Ken Barrie, the voice of children's TV favourite Postman Pat, has died at the age of 83.
Barrie, who was born Leslie Hulme, provided the voice for Pat and many of the other characters in the animated series.He also famously sang the show's theme tune, which was released as a single and spent 15 weeks in the top 75.
A family member told BBC News Barrie died at his home in Uxbridge,
London, after a short battle with cancer.
Barrie, who had a singing career with Embassy Records under the name of Les Carle, became the voice of Pat in 1981.
The stop-motion animated show, created by John Cunliffe and directed by Ivor Wood, was about the adventures of a postman in and around the fictional valley of Greendale, a location inspired by Longsleddale in Cumbria.
Barrie was the narrator of the original 13-episode series and also supplied voices for famous characters such as handyman Ted Glen, the Reverend Peter Timms and farmer Alf Thompson.
He reprised his role in the 1990s when a second series was made and in a rebooted version of the show which began in 2004 before handing over the voice of Pat to actor Lewis MacLeod.
He also provided the soundtrack for the 1987 animation Charlie Chalk and later topped the charts as part of Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band on the Official BBC Children in Need Medley in 2009.
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