June Spencer, who played matriarch Peggy in BBC Radio 4’s long-running drama The Archers from 1951 until her retirement in 2022, has died at the age of 105.

A statement said she died peacefully in her sleep in the early hours of Friday.

“Her family would like to pay particular tribute and thanks to the staff team at Liberham Lodge, who so lovingly cared for her in the last two years,” it said.

Her character Peggy Woolley (formerly Archer) was often viewed as a traditionalist, conservative character in the long-running drama charting the ups and downs of life in fictional Ambridge.