Pioneering cookery writer and broadcaster Marguerite Patten has died aged 99, her family have announced.

The author of more than 170 books, with worldwide sales of more than 17 million, she had suffered a stroke in 2011.

Her family said she died on Thursday, June 4, “from an illness stoically borne”.

Patten, who lived in Brighton, East Sussex, was awarded an OBE in 1991 and a CBE in 2010 in recognition of her career.

A brief stint as an actress was followed by a role as a war-time adviser in the Ministry of Food teaching families to eat well during rationing and then a job at Harrods.

She was a regular contributor on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour from 1946 and made her final appearance in 2011, as well as presenting her own history of British cooking on the station.

She made her first television appearance in 1947 and was a regular on shows including Cookery Club, Food And Drink, Masterchef and Ready Steady Cook.

Her cookery demonstration show was so popular that she sold out the London Palladium and toured around the world.

She refused to describe herself as a celebrity chef, telling one interviewer: ““I am not. To the day I die, I will be a home economist.”

Woman’s Hour host Jane Garvey said: “Before everyone else there was Marguerite Patten. Really fond memories of @BBCWomansHour programme with her in 2009. RIP #cookerylegend”.