IT has been announced that Droitwich comedian and actor Rik Mayall died this morning, according to a statement issued by the performer's management company, Brunskill Management.

The 56-year-old performer, who starred in the Young Ones, Bottom, Blackadder, and the Comic Strip Presents... had been badly injured in a quad-bike accident in 1998, and had been in a coma for several days, but he had successfully returned to acting in recent years.

Mr Mayall was born in Harlow in Essex, but moved to Droitwich when he was only three years old, growing up in the town.