Elsie Kelly, star of TV comedy Benidorm, who made Abergavenny her second home, has died after a short illness at the age of 89.

Elsie, who played the hapless Noreen in the long-running series, was described by its creator Darren Litten as a ‘comedic genius’.

“So sad to pass on the news of the passing of Elsie Kelly aka Noreen in Benidorm,” he wrote on social media. “One of the best loved characters in the show and certainly one of the most beloved cast members. Elsie’s acting abilities and comic genius were so natural they were almost taken for granted.

Born in Liverpool in 1936, Kelly was 69 when she landed her breakout role in Benidorm, playing Johnny Vegas’s on-screen mother.

It was originally planned that the character would pass away unnoticed on a lilo in the hotel’s swimming pool, but Elsie’s connection with her on-screen son Johnny Vegas was so strong that she ended up becoming a fully-fledged character.

“I was supposed to just float away and the closing shot of the episode was of me just lying there in middle of the pool,” she said. “Fortunately that ending didn’t happen and I was in the series for ten years,” she added.

Before appearing in Benidorm she played cleaner Mrs Tardebigge in Crossroads, the cook in The Famous Five and also enjoyed roles in The Ghost Hunter and Harry and the Wrinklies working alongside Victor Spinetti.

Better known in Abergavenny as Elsie Hall, her connection with the town began over 60 years ago when she married Gordon (Tex) Hall whose parents Elsie and Harry lived on Hereford Road.

She enjoyed a long association with the town during frequent visits, most notably appearing in the film Intimate Relations in 1996 which was filmed in and around Abergavenny.

“I love working in Abergavenny because not only do I love the town but it also means we can come and stay with my mother-in-law Elsie - known to everyone as Nan - who looks after us so well,” she said at the time.

As well known as a theatre director as a screen actor, Elsie made her Borough Theatre debut in 2005 directing her late husband and local actress Rita Rouse in Between the Lines, a play written by Chronicle editor Liz Davies.

She made her final visit to the town’s theatre when she appeared at the 90th birthday celebrations of local theatre legend Brenda Harris in 2016.

Elsie leaves two sons Christoper and Geoffrey, a daughter-in-law Wanda and a grandson Elliot