PAUL MCCARTNEY has led tributes to much-loved entertainer Cilla Black.

The former Beatle, who owns an estate in Peasmarsh, near Rye, described his fellow Liverpudlian as having a "fun-loving dignity".

He said: "Such a shock to hear about Cilla’s passing.

"She was a lovely girl who infected everyone with her great spirit.

"From first meeting her as a cloakroom girl at the Cavern in Liverpool, to seeing her many times since, she always had a fun-loving dignity that made her a great pleasure to be around.

"She had a fine distinctive voice and was always a bit of a laugh. It was a privilege to know and love her."

Cilla, who passed away on Saturday night in Spain at the age of 72, made her name in showbiz and counted members of The Beatles as some of her close friends.

Her first single, Love Of The Loved, was penned by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Actor Christopher Biggins, a regular on the Brighton theatre scene, worked with Cilla on Surprise, Surprise in the mid-1980s.

He was close to tears on ITV's This Morning yesterday.

He said: "She captured the hearts of the whole country, I think she was everybody's best friend."

Brighton musician Bob Ward also paid tribute to the 72-year-old who he met along with Paul O'Grady in Barbados in 2002.

He said: "We spent the whole night with them as their guests and she was just so natural and unassuming and it was a privilege to be in her company. She was just a joy to be with.

"I feel for Paul O'Grady so much because they were so connected, so incredibly close."

Cilla visited Sussex many times over the years and made Eastbourne her home, albeit for one summer, in 1987.

In the August of that year Cilla spent her summer in a rented house in the town overlooking Beachy Head while starring in a summer show at the Congress Theatre.

Almost 28 years ago to the day of her death, a double-page spread appeared in The Argus, with an interview with Cilla ahead of the show.

She told our reporter: "Six months a year I'm in TV studios but I have to have direct contact with an audience."

Cilla had to postpone a stage engagement in Worthing three years earlier when she went into hospital for a hysterectomy in June 1984.

She was back to her best in the September for a rescheduled appearance at Worthing's Pavilion Theatre.

The first story featuring her in The Argus dates back to May 1969, when, far from the limelight, she was admitted to the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead for a facial plastic surgery operation.

The next day she emerged from theatre with two black eyes and a broken nose - thankfully all part of the surgery.

Cilla was known to a new generation as the host of TV show Blind Date and she often visited Brighton looking for potential guests.