Peggy Cole, Suffolk countrywoman and broadcaster, dies aged 80

Peggy Cole opened up her garden at her council house in Charsfield to raise money for charity

Author, broadcaster, gardener and Suffolk countrywoman Peggy Cole has died aged 80.

She died on Friday evening after a year-long battle with cancer, her family said.

She acted in Sir Peter Hall's 1974 film Akenfield about changing rural lives and the garden at her council house was a visitor attraction.

Mrs Cole was an East Anglian Daily Times columnist and made regular appearances on BBC Radio Suffolk.

Peggy Cole kept one of Princess Margaret's discarded cigarette butts in a matchbox after the princess visited her garden

Peggy Cole's books and newspaper columns covered the natural world, herbal remedies, cookery, superstitions, sayings and dialect

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In the early 1980s, Princess Margaret was among visitors to her garden in Charsfield, near Woodbridge, which Mrs Cole opened to raise money for charity.

She was made an MBE in 1993 for services to charity and presented with a special award at last year's Suffolk Show.

Peggy Cole, pictured with her sons Allan (left) and David (right), was made an MBE for services to charity in 1993

Bill Baker, show director, said: "She championed Suffolk and country life and wrote about the show extensively.

"We were thrilled to have the opportunity to formally acknowledge her contribution in 2015."

She wrote her newspaper column about country life for about 30 years.

Terry Hunt, editor of the East Anglian Daily Times, said: "She was an extraordinary woman who considered herself to be an ordinary, good, old Suffolk gal and everything about Peggy was truly Suffolk and we treasure that.

"The column was full of common-sense, down-to-earth advice about life, but she never fell into that trap of going on about how great life was 30 to 40 years ago - she realised that life moved on and people had choices to make."

Allan Cole, her son, said: "She was passionate about this county and its people and was probably one of the finest ambassadors Suffolk has ever had.

"She was never happier than when she had dirt under her fingernails."

Mr Cole said there would be a private family funeral service with a public memorial service at a later date.