Sara Coward, best known for voicing Caroline Sterling on The Archers, has died of cancer aged 69.

The actress was diagnosed with terminal cancer last September and was told she only had three months to live.

Huw Kennair-Jones, the editor of the Radio 4 programme, paid tribute to the actress, saying: "Everyone in The Archers family is very sad today. Sara was a gifted actress with a unique voice.

"Even when she was navigating the tribulations of Caroline Sterling's love life, Sara's deft wit and clever characterisation meant Caroline was never solely defined by her relationships but always as a fully rounded, intriguing woman of substance.

"We will all miss her both professionally and personally."

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After being diagnosed with cancer, Coward started the SM:)E campaign from her hospice bed in Warwickshire. The actress asked social media users to share pictures of themselves smiling and to post messages about kind acts people had performed in their lives recently.

"We worked out that it would take 2.5 million people standing shoulder to shoulder to form a line 1,000 miles long,” she told Radio Times in January.