Co-stars mourn death of Nora Batty aged 80

FRIENDS and co-stars were last night mourning the death of Kathy Staff, the actress who played Nora Batty in Last of the Summer Wine.

The 80-year-old died after an illness, the BBC reported.

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

With her curlers, saggy tights and razor-sharp tongue, Nora Batty became Britain’s favourite battle-axe and Staff’s most famous role.

Staff played the character from the first episode of the show in 1973 and made her last appearance in August.

Aside from Last of the Summer Wine, Staff also appeared in Coronation Street, Crossroads and the sitcom Open All Hours.

Sallis said his co-star was irreplaceable.

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.”

The vicar of 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.

“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 said.

Alan Bell, the producer of Last of the Summer Wine, told the BBC that Staff’s gentle nature meant she often needed prompting to bring out Nora Batty’s flinty character.

Nora’s attempts to fend off amorous advances from scruffy layabout Compo — often with a broom — were a staple of the show.