Actress Eleanor Summerfield, who appeared in BBC dramas Casualty and Lovejoy, has died in hospital aged 80.

Her film and television career spanned from the late 1940s to 1997, and she made more than 50 appearances on screen.

The actress, who was born and lived in London, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1937.

She was married to actor Leonard Sachs for 40 years until his death in June 1990, aged 82.

Summerfield will not be remembered just for her acting talents; she was also a regular on BBC Radio Four panel show Many a Slip as well as appearing in the first series of Just a Minute.

She also starred in the 1963 film The Running Man and the 1953 movie Isn't Life Wonderful!

Her son Toby paid tribute to his mother, saying: "She had the great gift of being able to connect with an audience."