LOCAL Conservatives have been paying tribute to former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died on Monday aged 87.

South Hams MP Dr Sarah Wollaston said she was sorry to hear that Baroness Thatcher had died and that 'she was an inspirational Prime Minister and a Great Briton'.

She added: 'Whatever people feel about her legacy, she was undoubtedly the towering political figure of her time and completely focused on restoring Britain's greatness.

'We should all be proud of our Iron Lady.'

Christine Roberts, chairman of the Dartmouth branch of the Conservative Party, said Mrs Thatcher's death had come as a 'surprise'. She said: 'It was very upsetting news because she was a great leader. I know a lot of people don't agree with that view but I personally believe that she was.'

She added: 'This news came as a surprise. We did know that her health was not particularly good and she was very frail.'

However, Mrs Roberts criticised the timing of the 2011 film about Mrs Thatcher called The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep which portrayed Baroness Thatcher suffering from dementia.

'I think the film should have come out after her death. It was quite clever but it obviously showed her dementia,' she said.

South West Devon MP Gary Streeter said: 'She was a towering figure in British politics.

'When she took over we were the sick man of Europe but under her leadership our economic fortunes were transformed.

'She helped win the cold war and usher in a period of greater peace.

'I had the privilege of knowing her and I have never met a leader like her with such clarity of vision and strength of will.'

Baroness Thatcher, who suffered a fatal stroke at the Ritz hotel where she had been staying for the past few months, was Britain's first female premier and a towering – if controversial – political figure, who led the Tory government from 1979 to 1990, winning three general elections in a row.

In 1982, polls showed she was the least popular prime minister ever – but the success of the Falklands War changed that dramatically.

In the United States and Eastern Europe, she was regarded, along with ex-president Ronald Reagan, as one of the architects of the West's victory in the Cold War.

But at home her confrontation with the miners in the mid 1980s divided the country.

A Number 10 spokesman said Baroness Thatcher's funeral will take place next Wednesday.

The funeral ceremony, with full military honours, will take place at London's St Paul's Cathedral, following a procession from Westminster.

Separately, Buckingham Palace announced the Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, will attend the service.

Lady Thatcher will not have a state funeral but will be accorded the same status as Princess Diana and the Queen Mother.

A ceremonial funeral is one rung down from a state funeral – normally reserved for monarchs – and requires the consent of the Queen.

A Downing Street spokesman said the details had been agreed at a 'co-ordination meeting' between the Thatcher family and Buckingham Palace representatives on Tuesday morning.