EastEnders veteran June Brown has issued a statement paying tribute to her good friend Dame Barbara Windsor following her death earlier this week.

The actress, who played Peggy Mitchell for more than two decades, died at the age of 83 on Thursday night following a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

"I'm thinking of Babs as she was when she came in to EastEnders as Peggy Mitchell - tiny, bright, bubbly, pretty and friendly to everyone. She soon became loved by all the cast," Brown, 93, told The Sun.

"We became great friends. We had adjoining dressing rooms and she was always popping in for coffee and we'd go to lunch together; she kept me up to date with all the gossip.

"I wished we'd had more scenes together but our only one was in her last episode, when Dot said goodbye to Peggy, knowing that she was dying.

"After Babs left, we talked constantly on the phone. She visited me once in the early years when she was still herself; it was like old times. A short while after that we went for dinner in a nearby restaurant.

"About a year ago I called in to see her on my way home from work – we spoke very little that time, we just sat on her sofa, and I put my arm around her. And that was the last time I saw her.

"In our last phone call she asked me several times where I was – I finally said 'I'm at home' and her comment was 'I'd like to come to your home', but it was too late for that.

"At this time, I'm thinking of her very loving husband Scott. They had such a happy marriage; they were like two children, always laughing together.

"While I'm still here, she'll always be alive in my mind."

Windsor's fellow stars Ross Kemp and Pam St Clement have also paid tribute following the sad news.