VETERAN comedian and broadcaster Cyril Fletcher has died aged 91.

He passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Guernsey after a short illness, his friend Michael Pointon said.

Fletcher had a career, which covered theatre, radio and television.

He was most famous for his role on the BBC's That's Life, where he won millions of new fans in the show's early years by telling his 'old odes'. Last night Mrs Tanner described him as a "true gentleman of the old school."

"I remember when he came to perform at what was then The Wiltshire Hotel opposite the police station in Fleming Way," she said.

"He was a very warm and friendly entertainer and had the audience in stitches.

"This comedian was one of England's best. He was just hilarious." Close pal Esther Rantzen, who starred alongside him on That's Life, said he was a delight to work with.

Born in Watford, Herts, Fletcher started writing odes as a pupil at Friern Barnet Grammar, where he produced concerts.

He left in 1930 and became a part-time drama student. In 1936 he turned professional comic with the Fol-De-Rols concert party. His mock-Cockney delivery of the verse Dreaming of Thee, based on an Edgar Wallace poem, made him a household name.

During the dark days of World War Two he kept the home front happy with memorable radio plays.

After the war he and wife Betty Astell, produced pantos and seaside shows. The pair are famed with discovering Harry Secombe.

As well as his 92-year-old wife, he also leaves a daughter Jill.