Bexhill visit by member of Royle Family

The garden party at Mais House was attended by a celebrity guest who came to repay a debt.

Veteran actress Liz Smith is famous for her comedy roles as Letitia Cropley in The Vicar Of Dibley and then Nana Royle in the award-winning series written by Caroline Aherne.

She was too late on Saturday to officially open the event but she was determined to be there and proved well worth the wait.

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Liz has been a longtime supporter of the Royal British Legion and said her trip to Mais House was her way of giving back to the organisation which once helped her.

Now 87, she said: "I was five years in the Navy during the war. When I came out I married a sailor at the end of the war but he cleared off.

I found myself with two children and no money, and the only help I had was advice from the British Legion.

"I had no-one to turn to - no-one wants to know you in those circumstances...particulary in those days you were looked down on an awful lot if you were a one parent family. You didn't get any help in any way - people didn't want to know you. The only place to turn to for advice was the British Legion. I was very grateful...I owe them a big debt. It was only only practical help - they help you with advice and friendship. So I am doing an event like this as part of giving back and that is why I am very sorry to have been late. I would like it to be perfect."

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Having arrived an hour late because of traffic problems she enjoyed a cup of tea while asking acting matron manager Marcella Warburton all about Mais House - Liz herself lives in a retirement flat in East Finchley.

"It's a very handsome looking place," she said of Mais House.

"I'll probably put my name down while I'm here!

"I live in retirement accommodation - it is just a flat, where you have to be over 60. It is not a care flat or anything - you look after yourself. I like it very much and I am very glad I did it, because running a house is too much for me now. But even so I am trying to move - I am hoping to go to Brighton."

She showed great interest in Mais House and how it is run before moving through to meet staff members and residents and look around the garden.

Liz then signed autographs and books and posed for photographs while chatting to all those waiting patiently to meet her.