BRITAIN's first pin-up girl, who was from Eastleigh and was the inspiration behind the famous Jane cartoon, has died.

Christabel Leighton-Porter, described by Winston Churchill as Britain's "secret weapon" because her saucy pictures raised the morale of the D-Day forces, was 87.

Her age had been a closely guarded secret until now. Her curvaceous figure was the inspiration for Jane, the cartoon strip heroine who lost her clothes but not her virtue in every adventure.

Soldiers, sailors and airmen alike pinned up her glamorous photographs in the locker rooms of barracks across the world. During the war she went on a grand tour of morale-boosting personal appearances and every week she received scores of proposals from admirers.

Her funeral will take place at St Mary's Church, Horsham, on a date to be fixed.