Surrey has lost a star of stage and screen as Dame Penelope Keith has died, aged 86, at her home in Milford.

The star of The Good Life and To The Manor Born died peacefully at her Mousehill Manor home of more than 50 years.

Former Farnham MP and culture secretary Jeremy Hunt was one of the first people to pay tribute to the actress and mother-of-two, who had been living with cancer.

He said: “Incredibly sad to hear of the passing of Dame Penelope Keith CBE – she was a neighbour and friend where she was dearly loved by all who knew her in Milford.”

Born in Sutton in April 1940, Keith rose to fame in the 1960s, joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 and appearing in several London and Stratford productions.

She later made the seamless move to TV, appearing in Dixon of Dock Green and the Army Game before appearing as Margo in the much-lived sitcom, The Good Life, in 1975.

She won a BAFTA for Best Comedy Performer in 1977 before starring as bereaved aristocrat Audrey Forbes-Manson in the hit comedy, To The Manor Born.

The sitcom star succeeded Laurence Olivier as the president of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund in 1989 and was made a dame in 2014 for services to the arts and charity.

She was also a campaigner and supporter of many local causes, opening the Cats Protection centre in Haslemere in 2016.

She was also an official patron of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford, served as Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey, and acted as president of The Clockhouse Community Centre in Milford.

Her family expressed gratitude in a statement for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and asked that their privacy be respected at this time.