Former TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright has died at the age of 66, her agents said today.

The star, best known as one of the culinary duo Two Fat Ladies, died at Edinburgh's Royal Infirmary on Saturday.

Her agents, Heather Holden-Brown and Elly James, said: ''Loved dearly by her friends and many fans all over the world, Clarissa was utterly non-PC and fought for what she believed in, always, with no thought to her own personal cost.

''Her fun and laughter, extraordinary learning and intelligence, will be missed always, by so many of us.''

The broadcaster and food writer shot to fame with Jennifer Paterson, who died, after being diagnosed with cancer, in 1999, at the age of 71.

The duo travelled around in a motorbike and sidecar in the BBC series, which enjoyed success around the world.

Spokeswoman Ms James said Dickson Wright ''hadn't been well for a little while'' and had been in hospital since the beginning of the year.

Dickson Wright initially enjoyed a career as a barrister.

She and Paterson were put together for a BBC series in 1996, by producer Patricia Llewellyn.

She discovered Dickson Wright working in an Edinburgh cookery bookshop and decided to introduce her to Paterson, who said she had never had a cookery lesson.