One of the nation’s oldest papergirls has died.

Former forces comedienne Joyce Golding kept delivering The Argus up to her 80th birthday.

But the retired variety per- former sadly passed away on Christmas Eve.

Joyce rode her mobility scooter through the streets of Hove every morning until just days before her 80th birthday.

When she finally gave up her paper round of 15 years she said: “It’s time for a rest.

“I didn’t like having nothing to do when I got up so I took on the paper round.”

In her younger days she juggled a glamorous theatre career with bringing up her daughter Emily, by calling on James Bond actor Roger Moore to babysit.

The 007 star was married to Joyce’s husband Freddie Squires’ sister Dorothy Squires and used to look after young Emily on weekends.

Her showbiz career started working for the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes as a teenager working on the shop counter and collecting laundry, but she kept her colleagues in stitches with her impressions of famous film stars and friends entered her into a talent contest.

Joyce was invited to an audition at London’s Drury Lane Theatre before being sent across Europe to entertain the troops with her act which combined jokes, sketches and musical interludes.

After the war, Joyce was spotted by Joe Collins, father of film star Joan Collins.

She was signed up to his agency a stream of bookings including film roles and a six-week stint at the London palladium followed.

The late show business mogul Lord Lew Grade once described her as “the funniest woman I ever saw on a stage.”

She met husband Freddie when she stepped in at the last minute for another actress in Blackpool and they married in 1949.

Joyce appeared on stage with both Dorothy and husband Roger, headlining at theatres all over the country and starred at the Brighton Hippodrome in the late forties, opposite Max Bygraves.

Tragedy struck when her Freddie died from kidney disease in 1955, aged just 37.

Joyce continued with her stage career, forming a successful double act with Brighton actor and dancer Tony Stuart.

She gave up the theatre in 1962, but she and Tony opened the Temple Bar in Western Road, Brighton, and put on regular variety shows during their six years there.

They then ran a gay club, the Queen of Clubs, in Norfolk Square, which also featured regular musical shows.