Tributes paid to Simon Dee

Tributes have been paid to Shropshire-educated former disc jockey and TV presenter Simon Dee who died after a brief battle against bone cancer.

The Sixties star, who attended Shrewsbury School, passed away on Sunday at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

His friend Roger Backhouse, a retired QC, said: "It happened quickly. He was diagnosed with bone cancer.

• Video - Click here for Simon Dee pirate radio memories

"He passed away this morning. It's a shock that he has died but he was plainly very ill, in a lot of pain, but he would never let you know."

He added: "His face had started to shrink and his teeth had gone out. He was plainly a terminal case but he just bore himself with the greatest dignity."

Dee, 74, whose real name was Cyril Nicholas Henty-Dodd, became a bus driver and lived in Winchester, Hants, after his television career ended.

In his heyday he interviewed stars like Sammy Davis Jr, Lee Marvin, Bob Hope, Charlton Heston and John Lennon on his twice-weekly chat show Dee Time.

The show, which opened with the catchphrase "It's Siiiiimon Dee", attracted 18 million viewers.

He compered Miss World, appeared on Juke Box Jury and Top of the Pops and helped launch pirate pop station Radio Caroline.

But, he fell out with BBC bosses over his massive salary demands and he left after his contract was reviewed in 1969.

He took a two-year contract with LWT for a TV series in January 1970 but his contract was ended after just a few months following a row with management.