COMEDIAN and author Spike Milligan, who during his career performed at a number of theatres across Kent, has died at his home on the Sussex-Kent border near Rye. He was 83.

The comic genius had suffered ill health for sometime and in recent months had been nursed by his third wife, Shelagh.

As well as appearing in panto and other stage productions in Kent, he often opened fetes and attended charity events in the county.