Celebrity cookery queen and Norwich City joint majority shareholder Delia Smith has been included in a list of the nation's older public figures who have contributed most to society.

Delia, who appears on the list alongside the likes of Jilly Cooper, Sir David Attenborough and Sir Alex Ferguson, was selected by the WRVS charity, as the judges' favourite person aged over 66 in business.

The 70-year-old remains the UK's bestselling cookery author, with 21 million book sales.

The Winter Collection, sold two million copies and the 1998 television series, Delia's How To Cook, reportedly led to a 10pc rise in egg sales in Britain.

Lynne Berry, chief executive of WRVS, said: 'A measure of society is how it sees old people, and in the UK there are too many negative assumptions about being old – that older people are a drain on society or a burden for the next generation. But this is simply not true.

'Our list demonstrates the extraordinary social and cultural contribution older people make and it was incredibly difficult to agree a final list of 66 people, as there is such a wealth of talent, contribution and impact older people are making in the UK. We want help make Britain a great place to grow old, with a society that has a positive view of older people and recognises values and capitalises on the contribution they can make...'