A GREEN pioneer has died after a five-year battle with oesophageal cancer.

Joan Pick, 76, lived the ultimate eco-friendly lifestyle for 44 years, eating a raw vegetable diet and using as little electricity as possible.

Instead of driving or using gas-guzzling public transport, Joan would run for a minimum of 10 miles every day and covered enough distance to go around the world eight times.

Her nephew, Chris Pick, 39, said: "Joan had this idea in 1973 about preserving the Earth's energy.

"She saw it as a business enterprise with customers that needed to be conserved and managed in a proper way.

"She didn't have hot water since 1973 and had no television, just a radio. She never spent more than £20 on electricity."

Born in 1940 on Walney, Joan was the daughter of Harriet Pick, a teacher at Barrow Girls' Grammar School.

A talented scientist and author, Joan boasted a degree in physics and maths from Bristol University, and moved to London in the late 1960s as a director of a consultancy company.

She became known as the Croydon running lady, having also given up motorised transport.

Her daily exercise saw her run 10 miles each day, and 25 on Sundays.

Mr Pick said: "She kept a note of it all, and I think she must have ran 200,000 miles, which is something like eight times around the world.

"She used to ride bikes too. She was a member of a riding group that would go from London to Brighton every summer.

"She carried on right up until she went to hospital in October."

The daunting run was part of Joan's daily routine.

Mr Pick said: "She'd get up at 5.30 in the morning, go for a jog and then read her newspapers.

"Since she didn't use electricity to cook, she'd eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

"She would listen out for people talking about energy conservation on the radio and write letters to them on her typewriter, before going for another five mile run in the evening."

Her local fame only aided her cause, and summed up her inspirational qualities, having previously wrote books to help schoolchildren understand science.

Mr Pick said: "I think she liked the fame of it all. She wanted to get the word out there and get people interested in her enterprise project, that's what she called it.

"Any publicity was great for her."

Mr Pick, who lives in Seattle, plans to bring his family to Barrow to show his eight-year-old daughter where her grandfather and Joan grew up.

He travelled over to the UK as soon as his aunt took a turn for the worse in October.

He said: "My daughter would always ask to see photos of her, so when I was visiting her in hospital she'd take selfies and I'd show Joan.

"I'd take photos of her to send back home.

"That was the best part of the trip, seeing her happy and smiling."

Joan died on January 29 from pneumonia arising from complications with her cancer treatment, but her legacy continues.

Mr Pick said: "I asked her about what she wanted for a funeral and she told us to save all the money we can and send my daughter to college.

"She did ask guests to donate to energy conservation, not-for-profit organisations, or to plant a tree."