FANS of Anita Harris, who took her first steps to stardom while living in the Bournemouth area, have paid tribute to the talented actress and singer following reports that she is penniless.

The 67-year-old entertainer has starred alongside Dusty Springfield and Petula Clark as well as appearing in a number of Carry On films.

But Anita and her husband Mike Margolis are said to be living in a friend’s spare room after being crippled by a financial crisis.

The couple tied the knot at Bournemouth register office in May 1973 before entertaining guests at the town’s then five-star Royal Bath hotel. They are now reported to have debts of tens of thousands of pounds which they are unable to repay.

Born in Somerset, the star spent her early years in the Bournemouth area. A graduate of the Hampshire School of Speech and Drama in Boscombe, she trained as a young skater at the former Bournemouth ice-rink before turning to the stage and regularly appearing in pantomime productions at local venues.

A month after being spotted by a talent scout, Anita was in Las Vegas performing with a dance troupe and she shot to fame in 1967 with the hit recording of Just Loving You.

With family living in Poole, she regularly travelled from her Kensington home to Bournemouth; holding a birthday party in the resort’s Carlton Hotel in June 1984.

Her wedding in Bournemouth attracted crowds of fans and in 1982 the popular cabaret star was the subject of This is Your Life.

The entertainer has now voiced fears that she and her husband could end up sleeping in their car. She said: “We have had a series of bad blows and they keep on coming. I feel so ashamed.”

She said they had been evicted from their last home, a flat above a garage near Hyde Park they rented from sympathetic friends, owing £7,500. The couple are believed to still owe more than £15,000 despite having sold their home in the affluent suburb of Barnes for £913,000 in 2007 to pay off debts.

The entertainer said: “If I’ve made any mistakes on our behalf it’s to keep up an image that’s expected of me. I don’t want to disappoint. It’s very difficult to say you’re up against it. It’s part of the profession to be on top.”

The couple first suffered a financial setback in 1985 when they lost all their savings in the collapse of a Swiss-based bank.

Anita’s long-time friend Mike Hack from Christchurch said: “I remember her wedding day when crowds lined the streets and her reception.

“With her fantastic good looks, even at 67, her talent and her genuine good nature, let’s hope she bounces back.”

He added that her friends and family wished her better days adding: “Let’s hope it won’t be long before her smile lights up a theatre again.”