Actor Rodney Bewes, who found fame as one of the Likely Lads has died, the BBC is reporting tonight.

He starred as Bob Ferris in the BBC sitcom alongside James Bolam's character, Terry Collier.

The pair were cast as childhood friends in the innovative programme - one of the first to be set in the north east of England - which at its peak was watched by 27 million people.

Bob was the sensible one, doing his best to get on with his job and better himself, while Terry was the irresponsible one, intent on living life to the full and forever getting "the lads" into trouble of one kind or another.

But any notion the pair were best pals off-screen was shattered by the revelation of their spectacular fall-out in Bewes's 2005 autobiography.

The bust-up, decades earlier, marked the beginning of a decline in his career, although he continued to act on stage and screen.

Bewes never regained the fame and success he enjoyed in the sitcom, with many of his later roles on stage, where he appeared in Three Men And A Boat, Funny Money and The Diary Of A Nobody.

His second wife Daphne died in 2015. He is survived by his four children, Billy, Joe, Tom, and Daisy, and two grandchildren Oscar and Eliza.