Not many papergirls are still delivering their daily round days before their 80th birthday. And not many can claim to have worked with James Bond.

Then again, few on newspaper rounds are like Joyce Golding, who rides her scooter through the streets of Hove every morning.

But not for much longer. She will complete her last round on Friday, two days before her 80th birthday and 15 years after starting.

Joyce, of Wilbury Gardens, Hove, said: "It's time for a rest. I don't know what I will do with my days now, though."

Keeping busy has been the story of Joyce's life, especially when she juggled her glamorous theatre career with bringing up her daughter Emily in the Fifties.

Joyce, however, was able to call on James Bond for help - actor Roger Moore helped look after Emily at weekends.

And they learnt to horse-ride together, as he prepared to star in the film Ivanhoe.

At the time, Moore was married to stage star Dorothy Squires, the sister of Joyce's husband Captain Freddie Squires.

Joyce remembers duetting with the future Mr Bond in a Fifties panto - though she also recalls he had a terrible singing voice.

She never dreamt of such things when she started working for the NAAFI (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) as a teenager in the early Forties.

Her more mundane tasks were working on a shop counter and pushing a laundry basket through the streets, collecting dirty washing.

However, she kept her colleagues in stitches with her impressions of famous film stars.

She was so good at entertaining that two friends applied for her to join ENSA, the Entertainments National Service Association.

Joyce was invited to an audition at London's Drury Lane Theatre before being sent across Europe to entertain the troops.

Her act, Creating An Impression, combined jokes and sketches with musical interludes.

She was always billed as Joyce Golding, rather than her married name of Squires.

She had originally wanted to become an opera singer but made her name by using her vocal range to comic effect.

She said: "One of my tricks was to sing The Charge Of The Light Brigade in different accents.

"You couldn't get away with that these days, you would have to do a lot more."

Her first performance was in the Hebrides, before she travelled through France, Belgium, Holland, Italy and Austria.

She said: "I was young and it was very exciting.

"The troops all loved the shows, even when we were just crammed into a tiny hut."

But there were terrifying moments.

At a performance in Eindhoven, 50 mines went off nearby. Two dancers were injured by the blasts but Joyce escaped unhurt.

She said: "There was a big bang all of a sudden, then the curtains came down. We had to scramble for cover.

"We would travel through countries and see burnt-out tanks with bodies hanging off them and cattle lying dead in the fields."

After the war, Joyce's talent was spotted by Joe Collins, father of film star Joan Collins.

She was signed up to his theatre and agency, based in Islington in London, and a stream of bookings followed.

She starred in the 1948 slapstick comedy film Trouble In The Air alongside Jimmy Edwards, Freddie Frinton, John Pertwee and Bill Owen.

And she did a six-week stint at the London Palladium in 1950.

Joyce, who was born in Battersea, south London, loved the glamour of her new-found stardom.

She said: "The first week I earned £100 - I threw it on the floor and rolled around in it. I shouted, 'Look, mum and dad, I'm rolling in money!'"

Joyce also made a name for herself playing the Dame in pantomimes, a role usually played by men.

The late showbusiness mogul Lord Grade, who presented her in some of his pantos, once said: "Joyce Golding was the funniest woman I ever saw on a stage.

"She could make an audience laugh without even opening her mouth."

She met her husband when she stepped in at the last minute for another actress at the Palace in Blackpool.

They married in 1949 and their daughter Emily was born the following year.

Joyce kept performing while pregnant, covering her bump with flowing dresses while sharing a bill with Petula Clark.

Emily spent many weekends with her sister-in-law Dorothy and Roger Moore, who were married from 1953 to 1969.

Joyce appeared on stage with both Dorothy and Roger, headlining at theatres all over the UK.

She starred at the Brighton Hippodrome in the late Forties, opposite Max Bygraves.

Tragedy struck when her husband died from kidney disease in 1955, aged just 37.

Joyce continued with her stage career, forming a successful double act with Brighton actor and dancer Tony Stuart.

She gave up the theatre in 1962, finding interest was dwindling in her style of variety.

However, she and Tony opened the Temple Bar in Western Road, Brighton, and put on regular variety shows during their six years there.

They then ran a gay club, the Queen of Clubs, in Norfolk Square, which also featured regular musical shows.

She later worked at the Tungstens factory from 1971 to 1983, before opting for retirement.

She said: "I didn't like having nothing to do when I got up so I took on the paper round.

"My dog Gus used to come with me, until he died two years ago.

"It never bothered me, getting up early or going out in bad weather."

She is similarly ambivalent about her time in showbusiness.

Joyce said: "I sometimes wonder if I had done things differently, I might have made it as a big star.

"But I wouldn't want to be back in the theatre. I enjoyed it once but it doesn't appeal now."

Minutes after saying that, she was searching the house for her video of Trouble In The Air.

She has not watched it in years. Maybe now she can find the time.