When Annie Nightingale started work for Radio 1 in 1970, the station was a male bastion which had been created during the social revolution of the 1960s.

She remained a well-known figure in music circles decades later, bringing a different style to the airwaves than some of her male colleagues.

Her death at 83 comes at a time when no-one would bat an eyelid at a woman making her way in what was very much a man’s world when she started out.

She was a friend of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones during the 1960s and was still a regular figure at music events even in her advanced years.

While some of her male colleagues saw their success tarnished by revelations later in life, she remained a respected figure, still visible on the music scene.

Her death at 83 comes at a time when the industry she loved has become diverse, in what had once been a world dominated by white men.

She had described it as “her battle” to make sure women could succeed in that world.

Until Janice Long came on board in 1982, she was the only woman working as a DJ at the station.