Actress Dame Patricia Routledge, known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in classic TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, has died at the age of 96, her agent has said.

She also starred in Alan Bennett’s TV monologues and played BBC One’s amateur sleuth Hetty Wainthropp.

Her agent said in a statement to the PA Media news agency: “We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Dame Patricia Routledge, who died peacefully in her sleep this morning surrounded by love.

“Even at 96-years old, Dame Patricia’s passion for her work and for connecting with live audiences never waned, just as new generations of audiences have continued to find her through her beloved television roles.”

The statement added: “She will be dearly missed by those closest to her and by her devoted admirers around the world.”

Dame Patricia was best known as Hyacinth Bucket – pronounced “bouquet” – a comic creation who embodied the extremes of English pretension and snobbery.

“She’s an absolute monster and I enjoyed playing her enormously,” the actress said.

Keeping Up Appearances ran from 1990 to 95, and the following year she was voted the nation’s most popular actress at the BBC’s 60th anniversary awards.

She also found acclaim on stage as well as screen after starting her career in the theatre in the 1950s.

Following roles in London’s West End, she established herself in the US when she won the Tony Award for best lead actress in a musical on Broadway in New York for Darling of the Day in 1968.

She was as adept at serious drama as she was at musicals and comedy – she appeared in Richard III and Henry V at the Royal Shakepseare Company, then won an Olivier Award for best actress in a musical for Candide in the 1980s.

The 80s also saw her become a true national TV star – being given roles by Victoria Wood in As Seen on TV, and Alan Bennett in three of his renowned Talking Heads monologues, including 1988’s A Lady of Letters, for which she received a Bafta nomination.

She earned two further Bafta nominations, for Keeping Up Appearances, in 1992 and 93, then starred in the title role as a retired woman on a quest to solve crimes in BBC One’s Hetty Wainthropp Investigates between 1996 and 98.

She was made an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and a dame in 2017.