'Allo 'Allo! Creator Jeremy Lloyd Dies Aged 84

Comedy writer Jeremy Lloyd, who created sitcoms including Are You Being Served? and 'Allo 'Allo!, has died aged 84.

His agent said he died in a London hospital on Monday evening from pneumonia.

Alexandra Cann said: "Jeremy was a great wit and always a mass of original ideas. He had a wonderfully original mind and will be greatly missed."

Lloyd, who was married three times including to Joanna Lumley, created a string of hit shows with his writing partner David Croft.

He was given an OBE for services to comedy in 2012.

Lloyd enjoyed a screen career of his own before devoting himself to providing the funny lines for others.

He made his film debut in School For Scoundrels and had minor roles in the Beatles films Help! and A Hard Day's Night, as well as classics such as Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.

Lloyd and Croft had worked together on the Billy Cotton Band Show, contributing sketches, and were brought together again for a short-lived sitcom It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes Darling, which starred Lumley.

The two writers went on to work up an idea based on Lloyd's past experiences working at Simpsons of Piccadilly, which became Are You Being Served?, set in the fictional Grace Brothers store. Its run spanned 13 years.

'Allo 'Allo!, which starred Francesca Gonshaw, Gordon Kaye and Vicki Michelle, ran for over a decade from 1982.

It was set in a small cafe in Nazi-occupied France during World War Two.

Lloyd and Lumley were married for less than a year. Writing about the marriage, the actress said: "He was witty, tall and charming - we should have just had a raging affair."

His third marriage, to interior designer Lizzy Moberly, took place in central London this June.

He said his third bride, who was 49 when they tied the knot, was "beautiful, clever and sent from heaven on mission impossible".