Stars of Coronation Street joined hundreds of fans on Thursday for a moving memorial service for Maggie Jones, immortalised as the soap's legendary battle-axe Blanche Hunt.
Street veteran William Roache, who played her long-suffering son-in-law Ken Barlow led the tributes, bringing smiles and laughter during the hour-long tribute to the much-loved actress who died in December.
Roache described Jones as "our on-screen, live-in, scene-stealing battle-axe," played by a "unique and truly wonderful" actress.
To laughter he recited some of Blanche's most caustic one-liners, describing the Rovers Return's brassy barmaid Liz McDonald with: "Skirt no bigger than a belt, too much eyeliner and roots as dark as her soul."
Blanche also branded Roy Cropper as "someone who should be crayoning summat".
"In lesser hands some of these lines could seem cruel, vicious even," Roache said, "I think only Maggie could have turned them into pure comedy gold."
Describing Ken Barlow in Blanche's words as "all gong and no dinner", Roache said her character, a straight-talking Northern mother-in-law, had a habit of putting people in their place which "rang a chord with the nation".
He added: "We will miss Maggie deeply. We shall miss her as a friend and as a colleague.
"She grabbed the role of Blanche with both hands and turned it into something truly unique, which will become a legendary part of Coronation Street and British TV history."
Loved by millions of soap's TV viewers, around five hundred cast, crew and fans listened to the tributes, poems and music in tribute to Jones, held at Salford Cathedral.
Canon Tony McBride, Dean of the Cathedral, said Jones, accompanied with her sister Joan, regularly attended Mass there, just a mile from the Granada Studios in Manchester.
Jones pulled out of filming last October and died in December at Salford Royal Hospital aged 75. A private funeral was held in London.
She won several comedy awards for her portrayal of Deirdre Barlow's mother, with her withering put-downs and cutting one-liners littering her appearances in 830 episodes of the show.
Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Jones made her Coronation Street debut in the 1960s before landing the role as Blanche and a Coronation Street legend was born.
A tearful Anne Kirkbride, who played Blanche's daughter, Deirdre Barlow, gave a reading from the Book of Wisdom, before the poems, When I have Fears by Noel Coward, was read by Craig Gazey, who plays camp Graeme Proctor followed by Joyce Grenfell's, If I Should Go read by Sue Nicholls, the Street's Audrey Roberts.
In a final very personal tribute, Brooke Vincent, the Street's Sophie Webster, read a poem composed by herself.
The actress, 17, said: "You always made me smile, we always had a joke, We always shared a laugh whilst having a smoke.
"The one thing I loved was that you were like my Nana, You didn't have a clue who was Hannah Montana.
"The only thing I wanted to say is that you are missed so much, So many people in this building whose hearts you have touched."
Jones was last seen on screen shortly before Christmas and her absence in the soap is explained by Blanche house-sitting for a friend in Portugal.
Viewers will hear of her death in May followed by her character's on-screen funeral.
© Press Association