A HOUSEKEEPER who worked for some of Knutsford's most well-known families has died.

Laura Lyth, 89, began life as a maid at 18, but she still received letters and visits from the people she served more than 70 years later.

Last week Lady Hilary Glidewell, whose husband is former Lord Justice Sir Iain Glidewell, said their former housekeeper had become a family friend.

"We used to take her out to lunch," she said.

"In Est Est Est we used to sit looking over King Street chatting."

The Glidewells employed Mrs Lyth for more than 30 years at their house in Legh Road, Knutsford.

"She belonged to a generation that was brought up to believe they could not let their employer down," said Mrs Glidewell.

Mrs Lyth was born in Knutsford at Cranford Lodge, but her mother died when she was just two.

At 18 Mrs Lyth started her career as a housekeeper at a doctor's house in Macclesfield.

She went on to work for the Newgent family at the Rose and Crown in King Street and then for La Belle Epoque, also in King Street.

Wanda Jenkinson said her mother, who was an avid Manchester United fan, had never accepted her age.

"She'd say she helped old ladies who were probably younger than she was," she said.