ONE of the region’s best-known and respected businesswomen has died aged 104.

A familiar face to customers of the Coffee House, which she ran in Durham City for many years, Mary Bimbi was one of the city’s most popular figures.

It was not until she was aged 94 that the diminutive, but larger than life Mrs Bimbi reluctantly retired from one of the flagship outlets of her family’s chain of restaurants and cafes in the region.

Born in Annan, Dumfries, where her father, Bartholomeo Bacci, founded the family’s first fish and chip business at the turn of the 20th Century, she lived in the Scottish town until she was ten.

When her mother died, she was sent to convent school in her parents’ native region of Tuscany, Italy.

On completing her schooling, she returned to Annan but, on a further visit to Italy, she met Lorenzo Bimbi, who she would marry.

After the birth of two sons, Albert and James, the family returned to the UK and set up a cafe in Easington, then one in Durham City.

With Mrs Bimbi firmly at the helm of the Coffee House, in North Road, her husband and sons went on to open two more restaurants in the city and outlets in nearby Birtley and Newcastle.

The Bimbis lived in Geoffrey Avenue, Durham City, where Mr Bimbi died in 1978.

Despite her tireless business life, Mrs Bimbi, known as a superb cook, remained the lynchpin of the family, as a devoted mother, grandmother and, recently, a great-grandmother.

Her family held a 100th birthday for her four years ago, but over the past 18 months her health began to fail and she was looked after at the Belmont Grange Care Home, where she died peacefully on Friday, surrounded by her family.

Her grand-daughter, Melanie, died only a few weeks before Mrs Bimbi, who is survived by her two sons, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements will be announced later.

Mrs Bimbi’s son, James, said: “My mother was an inspiration to us all. She not only had a fierce work ethic, but was also completely devoted to her family and was loved dearly by us all.

“She will be a very sad miss to us and I know will be long be remembered by the thousands of customers who got to know her over the years.’’