The funeral of actress Louie Ramsay, who has died at the age of 81, has been held up because her only son is in hospital.

Ms Ramsay, who had been married to Wexford actor George Baker since 1992, had suffered two strokes and was at Market Lavington nursing home when she died on March 6.

Her funeral was scheduled to take place at All Saints Church in West Lavington, where she had lived with Mr Baker for nearly 19 years, on Friday but it was postponed until further notice when her son, Matt O’Casey, went into hospital in Manchester suffering with jaundice.

The Rev James Campbell, rector of the Lavingtons, said he was waiting for the family to name an alternative date.

Ms Ramsay and Mr Baker had been friends since the 1950s and their friendship was renewed when Ms Ramsay was cast as Dora, the wife of Chief Inspector Reg Wexford in Ruth Rendell’s Wexford on ITV in the 1980s.

After Mr Baker’s second wife Sally Home died of cancer in 1991, they became close and were married at Devizes Register Office in 1992 with a blessing at All Saints Church.

The couple lived in Stibb Hill, West Lavington, until Ms Ramsay had a stroke and Mr Baker broke his hip and they moved to a bungalow in Market Lavington.

Mr Baker, nearly 80, is now in a frail condition at Market Lavington nursing home, where Ms Ramsay died.

Friends expressed their sorrow at Ms Ramsay’s death. Eric Freeman, chairman of West Lavington Youth Club, which was founded by Mr Baker, said: “She was a lovely lady.”