A respected trade union leader and anti-racism campaigner died of a rare heart infection.

Her brother Frank Devlin, the brother of activist Liz Devlin, said his sister had died from a rare heart infection.

Mr Devlin said doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary found she had been suffering from a form of acute myocarditis when she died and added that a virus had infected her heart muscle.

He said: "It is impossible for accident and emergency staff to detect, it is a very rare disease and rarely fatal so she has been extremely unlucky. We were told anyone could catch it. It could come from a flu virus, chest infection or invasive surgery."

Miss Devlin, 43, of Bierley, Bradford, had complained of feeling ill for two days before visiting the out-of-hours GP centre at Bradford Royal Infirmary.

She was given tablets and told to come back if she got any worse. She returned that same day and died just hours later.

Mr Devlin said the family would wait to study all the records relating to his sister's death before deciding whether to question the reason she was sent home

The funeral of Miss Devlin was taking place today at her family church. Leading politicians were expected to attend the service at St Columba's Catholic Church.

Following the service Miss Devlin will be laid to rest at Bowling Cemetary.

Mr Devlin said: "We would just like to thank everybody for the magnificent tributes we have received, it has been overwhelming for my mother to know how popular Liz was."

Miss Devlin was branch chairman of the public services union Unison and worked as equality and diversity officer at Bradford Community Housing Trust.