Kathy Staff, the actress who played Nora Batty in the long-running BBC One comedy Last Of The Summer Wine, has died, it was reported today.

Alan Bell, the producer of Last of the Summer Wine, told BBC News that the 80-year-old actress had been ill for some time.

"We're distraught, but we have very fond memories of her," he said.

Peter Sallis, who played Norman Clegg in the long-running sitcom, said he was “terribly upset” at the loss of an irreplaceable co-star.

He told the BBC: “I’m terribly upset that she’s not with us, and I don’t know quite for sure whether we are going to do any more (episodes) but if we do, she is going to be terribly missed.”

Ms Staff also played Doris Luke, a cleaner, in the Crossroads soap opera on ITV, but it was as the battleaxe Nora Batty that she won an enduring place in viewers' hearts. She appeared in 243 episodes of the Yorkshire-based comedy, beginning in the very first episode in January 1973. She made her last appearance in August.

Mr Bell said that she often yearned for her character to be more gentle.

"She would play a scene quite gently, and I'd say, 'But Kathy, you've got to harden up, because that's who we all love, the hard, tough Nora Batty.'

"And she said, 'Why can't I be just soft and gentle at times?' And I said, 'Maybe some time we will.'

"She was such a good lady, she was religious, she would never do anyone any harm. But above all that, she was thoroughly professional."

The vicar of Ms Staff’s church said that in real life, the actress was completely different from her formidable screen persona.

Rev Alison Cox, priest-in-charge at St Mark’s, Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, said: “We will miss her terribly. She was a very friendly and warm woman; faithful and generous.

“She was held in great affection by all the parishioners of St Mark’s and way beyond the boundaries of our church.”

Ms Staff was baptised and married in the church and remained a committed Christian throughout her life.

“The whole nation will mourn her passing. By her work as an actress over the years she has brought so much pleasure to millions of people,” Rev Cox added.

“Kathy and her surviving family are in our prayers at this sad time.”

She also appeared in Emmerdale Farm, Coronation Street, and with David Jason and Ronnie Barker in Open All Hours.

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