Plaque unveiled in honour of Wendy Richard

Stars from EastEnders were among those who turned out to see a memorial plaque to Wendy Richard unveiled on Sunday in London.

The plaque, from the Heritage Foundation, is at the Shepherd's Tavern in Mayfair, which was once run by the actress' parents Henry and Beatrice Emerton.

It was unveiled by Are You Being Served creator David Croft. Richard, who died in February after a long battle with cancer, sprang to fame as Miss Brahms in the 70s sitcom, before spending 21 years as Pauline Fowler in EastEnders.

"Wendy was a great British actress," said the Foundation's president, singer Robin Gibb. "Particularly in America she had a tremendous impact.

"Are You Being Served? in particular was on every single night on TV. For 40 years, every night."

Among those who attended the ceremony were former EastEnders stars James Alexandrou and Todd Carty, who played Richard's onscreen sons Martin and Mark Fowler.

"She meant the world to me, like a second mum, my best friend" Carty said.

"She knew me from a very young age. We hit it off from the first minute."