Sussex pays tribute to TV scriptwriter and animal lover Carla Lane

Carla, who wrote the hit series The Liver Birds, Bread, Bless This House and Butterflies, among others, died this week aged 87.

She used the proceeds from penning such classics to found the Animaline sanctuary among 16 acres of woodland at Broadhurst Manor, Horsted Keynes.

She ran the sanctuary for abandoned and unwanted animals for 16 years before selling it in 2008 along with her 35-roomed Tudor manor house.

She told the Middy at the time that she could no longer afford her outgoings and had to sell and move on to a smaller property.

However, she continued her animal campaigning and care work. She had an animal sanctuary named after her - the Carla Lane Animals in Need Sanctuary in Melling, Merseyside.

Sussex vet Marc Abraham was among many who took to Twitter to pay tributes to the writer. He tweeted: Sad to learn of passing of brilliant writer & phenomenal animal welfare campaigner Carla Lane #bread #RIPCarlaLane

And Piers Morgan, whose family are from Newick, tweeted: “RIP Carla Lane, who made us all laugh.”