In the 1970s she became the first woman newsreader on BBC Radio 4.
In 1997 she was made a Freeman of the City of London and an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
She was a trombonist in the musical duo The Tracy Sisters before becoming a TV announcer.
She studied piano, violin, and trombone at the Royal Academy of Music.
In 1956 she dropped out of the Royal Academy of Music to join Ivy Benson's band for two years before leaving to form the comedy music duo the Tracy Sisters with fellow trombonist and singer Phyll Brown.