Carla Lane, creator of 1980s sitcom Bread, dies aged 87

Writer Carla Lane, the creator of the 1980s sitcom Bread, has died aged 87.

The comedy writer, who was from Liverpool, died at a nursing home in Mossley Hill earlier today, according to the Liverpool Echo.

Ms Lane, who wrote Butterflies and The Liver Birds, was also well known as an animal rights activist.

The Liver Birds series - based on a flat-sharing Liverpudlian women - made famous the line: "'You dancing?', 'You asking?', 'I'm asking!', 'I'm dancing!"'

Her hit series Bread, which focused on the lives of the Boswell family in the Liverpool neighbourhood of Dingle, ran for seven series between 1986 and 1991.

Ms Lane continued writing into the 1990s, producing and writing the BBC series Luv in 1993.

The comedian Ken Dodd told ITV News: "Her characters were all beautifully formed characters ... the words she put in their mouths [were] usually very, very funny, very humorous and very philosophical and very wise."

Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, said: "Carla Lane was a supremely gifted writer of bitter-sweet family comedies, loved by generations.

"Her legacy is extraordinary. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time."