Actress’s husband buys Black Isle deli

THE husband of actress Penelope Keith has bought a delicatessen on the Black Isle, where the couple have a holiday cottage.

Rodney Timson stepped in to purchase the Comfort Foods deli in Rosemarkie, where staff feared for their jobs if a buyer could not be found.

Mr Timson, who had regularly shopped at Comfort Foods before deciding to buy it, said his wife, who played Margo Leadbetter in the 1970s comedy The Good Life, would not be making an appearance behind the counter, claiming “actresses and businesses do not mix”.

The couple, who have a home at Fortrose, also have plans to build a tearoom at Avoch.

Mr Timson bought Comfort Foods from former owner Richard Comfort, who runs the Station Hotel at Avoch.

He said: “We want it to carry on as it was before, and we may introduce one or two new things into it. It’s very early days at the moment, it’s something I’ve never done before.”

Mr Timson, 64, and his wife, 72, who also starred in To The Manor Born, have won planning permission for the tearoom on a site of a former filling station overlooking the Moray Firth.

The project rumbled on for several years, with initial plans rejected after local opposition.