Soap legend Elizabeth Kelly has died at the age of 104.

The actress best known for playing Pauline Fowler’s outspoken relative Nellie Ellis on EastEnders passed away on Christmas Day last year.

She also starred in Coronation Street as Edie Burgess and Emmerdale as Edith Weatherall cementing her status as a familiar and much-loved face across British television.

Kelly enjoyed a screen career spanning more than 50 years.

Alongside her major soap roles she appeared in hit shows including The Bill, Grange Hill, Home and Away and The Royal.

Her appearance in The Royal in 2007 marked her final acting role.

A funeral service for Kelly will be held at St Peter’s Church in Scarborough on Tuesday, February 17, followed by a private burial.

St Peter’s Father Eddie Gubbins confirmed her cause of death telling The Sun: “She died of old age. She had a very peaceful death in the end. She was a beautiful lady and very gracious.”

He added that Kelly had been living in care homes in recent years and was no longer able to attend church. “She was too frail,” he said, explaining that he visited her to give holy communion instead.

Father Gubbins also paid tribute to her character saying: “She was a very strong lady and had a beautiful voice.”

Kelly began acting on television in the 1960s before landing her first soap role in Coronation Street in 1971.

More than two decades later her role as Nellie Ellis made her a standout figure on EastEnders remembered for sharp-tongued humour paired with warmth and heart.