Liam and Cherie remember brilliant and inspiring novelist Barbara

Actor Liam Neeson has paid tribute to Leeds novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford in a message praising her brilliance and elegance read out at her memorial service

- by Harriet Sutton

The 73-year-old reflected on his role in the TV drama A Woman Of Substance, adapted from one of the author's best-known books, in a note read out on his behalf.

Armley-born Barbara, who began her career as a teenager on the Yorkshire Evening Post, died at the age of 91 on November 24 last year following a short illness. She was "surrounded by loved ones to the very end", a spokesperson said.

Actors, authors and other notable figures attended the service at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street, London, yesterday.

Neeson said in his message: "In 1984, I had the great honour of playing Blackie O'Neill in the television adaptation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman Of Substance, and again in its sequel, Hold The Dream.