British TV legend Stephanie Cole is 'more or less' retired

'Open All Hours' star Stephanie Cole has retired from acting "more or less", actor Geoff Leesley has claimed.

The 82-year-old actress is a legend of British television having appeared in the '80s sitcom opposite the late Ronnie Barker and Sir David Jason, as well as shows such as 'Tenko', 'A Bit of a Do', 'Waiting for God' and 'Doc Martin' among many others.

Stephanie reprised her role as Mrs Featherstone in 'Still Open Hours', which was a continuation of the original comedy with Sir David's character Granville now running his late uncle Albert Arkwright's corner shop.

The sitcom ran for six series after the 2013 special which brought the characters back to the small screen before being cancelled by the BBC.

Geoff - who had a cameo in 'Still Open All Hours' and is the husband of actress Maggie Ollerenshaw who played main character Mavis - has now spilled that Stephanie has decided to end her career after six decades and focus on enjoying her retirement.

Speaking about the programme during an appearance on the 'Only Fools And Horses' podcast, he said: "They were good, fun episodes. People have retired, Steph Cole has retired, really, more or less now."

In her latter years, Stephanie became a firm favourite in 'Coronation Street' playing Roy Cropper's overbearing mother Sylvia Goodwin. She portrayed the Weatherfield battle-axe from 2011 to 2013 eventually leaving the ITV soap as part of Hayley Cropper's pancreatic cancer storyline.

In February 2023, the BBC confirmed that there would be no new episodes of 'Still Open All Hours'.

The statement read: “There are currently no plans for new episodes of 'Still Open All Hours'.

“We’d like to thank the cast and crew for six wonderful series, which are all available to view on BBC iPlayer.”