For Blackpool's entertainment scene, Linda Nolan, 65, is part of the town's showbiz DNA.

One of the more fiery members of 1970s girl band The Nolans finally lost her long battle with cancer on Wednesday, with her family at her bedside in a seaside town hospital.

Blackpool's entire showbiz family is also grieving, according to Grand Theater chief executive Adam Knight.

"It was a huge shock. Of course, we knew Linda was very ill, but she kept going.

“She was a wonderful actress, she had such a strong character,” Mr. Knight recalled of his time performing with her in Willy Russell’s “Blood Brothers” in London’s West End, in which she Play Mrs. Johnstone.

"Linda was so welcoming. There was a big family at Blood Brothers and she was especially encouraging of the younger actors. She really became friends with everyone. She was a star on and off the stage and was incredibly generous."

Mr Knight said the warmth was part of her long-standing relationship with the Grand Hotel, where the funeral of her sister Bernie was held after she also died of cancer in 2013.

He said: “She (Linda) is part of the Opry family – it’s almost like a second home for her.

“She was here in the summer, of course Blood Brothers in 2004 and 2007, and recently she was in a one-woman show.

"It was so beautiful to see the whole family there. It really was her second home."

The girl band were discovered last year by an agent at London's Cliffs Hotel, where the hotel's blue plaque was unveiled, and they have had a string of hits and been featured on Top Of The Pops and other TV variety shows of regular customers.

The Nolans went from playing Blackpool's answer to the Von Trapps in the town's social clubs to eventually performing in Vegas with Frank Sinatra - their mum's fireplace in their modest home A large photo of "Ol' Blue Eyes" with the girls was posted on the shelf on Waterloo Road.

Joan Humble from the Civic Trust, which commissioned the blue plaque, said it had to be in the hotel

“Blackpool is bursting with entertainment and the Nolan family entertain us year after year,” she added.

The girls even recorded a cheesy song which was played as Blackpool Football Club stormed onto the pitch.

When the band went their separate ways, Nolan began a solo career in Maggie May's Cabaret, which ran at the Central Piers for nearly a decade.

Caroline Hall, director of the town's new Town Entertainment Museum, said Nolan was very helpful in setting up the museum.

She said: "We are truly lucky that she was so generous with her time, memories and stories, and that's why we are able to showcase her time and experiences here, especially her Maggie Mae years."

Ms Hall added: "She was ill but it didn't take away from the experience. It was a joy. We're excited to share what the band has done."