Image copyright BBC/Inez Gordon

One of the stars of BBC comedy This Country, Michael Sleggs, has died aged 33.

The actor from Cirencester played the character Slugs in the BAFTA-winning comedy.

Earlier this year, he revealed on social media he had been in and out of hospital and was receiving palliative care for heart failure.

The WTAF A This Country podcast's official Twitter account shared the news, posting: 'We are devastated!

"Our friend, the man the legend Michael Sleggs Slugs passed away last night. RIP Michael. You are one in a million.'

His friend and actor, Camilla-Alicia Bates, said the actor had died on Tuesday evening.

"So grateful I got to spend his final resting with him and so glad he is out of pain and at peace. I love you forever," she posted on Twitter.

The much-loved Bafta-winning mockumentary, written by and starring siblings Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper, chronicled the lives of people living in a small village in the Cotswolds.

The show's producer Simon Mayhew-Archer said Sleggs "encapsulated the spirit" of the show and "brought tremendous joy to all who knew him."

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