A cook dubbed the Vera Lynn of wartime cookery is to share her secrets.

Marguerite Patten gave housewives advice on how to put nutritious meals on the table during the Second World War while she was working for the Ministry of Food.

In the days before Naked Chefs and Two Fat Ladies, she was inventing 20 different ways to prepare spam and getting the most out of powdered eggs.

Mrs Patten became Britain's first female television demonstrator in 1947 and was awarded an OBE for her services to the art of cookery in 1991.

At 87, she has published more than 160 books, including Spam - The Cookbook, which offers modern recipes using the savoury wartime favourite.

Now fans of the Brighton cook can share her wisdom when she visits Ditchling Museum on February 22 to mark its reopening and its Memories Of War exhibition.

The display will document the history of the Women's Institute in Ditchling, including a jam-making factory set up at North Cottage in North End.

There will also be a book of memories, including those of Dame Vera Lynn.

Mrs Patten said: "I'm going to talk about how we managed during the war, how we lived on rations and the great debt we owed our farmers. We could not have managed without them.

"Modern chefs say to me I must be surprised at how imaginative cooks are these days.

"But being an imaginative cook isn't a modern-day invention. We had less ingredients during the war and it meant we had to be even more imaginative."

Mrs Patten will be at the museum on February 22 between 2pm and 4pm. The exhibition will run until March 30.