Chitty Chitty Bang Bang star Sally Ann Howes dies aged 91

ITV News Correspondent Rebecca Barry hears from the loved ones of Sally Ann Howes

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and West End star Sally Ann Howes has died at the age of 91, her family have confirmed.

Her son, the artist Andrew Hart Adler, said his mother has been reunited with her husband of 48 years, Douglas Rae, who died earlier this year.

Mr Adler shared a photograph on Instagram of himself with his mum in 1967 off the Californian island of Catalina, writing: "You are finally with Douglas.

"All my memories of you live on."

The cause of her death has not been confirmed.

Toby Howes posted on Twitter to say his "beloved aunty died peacefully in her sleep" on Monday.

"My brother and I thought Sally Ann might hold on until the #Christmas screening of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as this would have greatly appealed to her mischievous side," wrote Mr Howes.

The actor received acclaim for her performances in London’s West End and New York's Broadway during a glittering career that spanned decades - but was best known for playing Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 hit musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Howes replaced Dame Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady in 1958 when Dame Julie returned to the UK to star in the show’s West End production.

In 1963 she was nominated for a Tony Award for best lead actress in a musical for her performance in Brigadoon.

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Howes was cast in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as the daughter of a confectionery magnate opposite showbiz veteran Dick Van Dyke, performing classic songs including Toot Sweets and Hushabye Mountain, and appearing as a wind-up figurine in Doll On A Music Box.

From September 2007 to January 2008 she returned to My Fair Lady, performing in a US tour of the show, produced by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, appearing as Mrs Higgins.

Howes was born on July 20, 1930 in St John’s Wood in west London.

She was the daughter of actor-singer Patricia Malone and British entertainer Bobby Howes, with whom she starred in Lerner and Loewe’s Paint Your Wagon.

Other notable performances were in stage shows Summer Song and A Hatful Of Rain.