Author and comedian Spike Milligan has died aged 83 at his Sussex home, his agent announced today.

The last remaining Goon died of kidney failure surrounded by his family.

Milligan had suffered ill health for some time and had been nursed by his third wife Shelagh in recent months.

Norma Farnes, his agent and manager, said: "For 35 years he has been the dynamo in my life. He was my dearest friend and I will miss him terribly."

The much-loved comic lived at Udimore, near Rye. He was the last member left of the Goon Show, a Fifties classic and favourite of Prince Charles.

The others were Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine.

Milligan dominated The Goons with his absurd sense of humour but his life was beset by manic depression.

He suffered at least ten mental breakdowns. He attributed his mood swings to shell shock, sustained during service as a gunner during the Second World War.

Probably his most famous - or notorious - remark came in 1994 when, at the age of 76, he received a Lifetime Achievement Comedy Award.

A letter praising him from the Prince of Wales was read out - and Milligan declared: "Little grovelling bastard ..."

He later sent a fax to the Prince saying: "I suppose a Knighthood is out of the question now?"

In March last year the pair met at St James's Palace when Milligan did receive the knighthood, which could only be honorary because he had adopted his father's Irish nationality.

The Prince was today said to be "deeply saddened". His spokesman said: "He knew Spike Milligan over many years and had a great affection for him."

There was more to Milligan than The Goons. He was also a poet and author, with his war memoirs particularly popular.

He was also a jazz cornet player and trumpeter, and a campaigner against abortion, vivisection, factory farming, and noise - the thing which drove him to Rye from London.

In the Seventies Milligan was thrust back into the national spotlight thanks to his TV series Q, admired by some and panned by others.

At a local level, he backed the campaign to save Brighton's West Pier from demolition and staged a series of one-man shows around Sussex to raise cash for the fighting fund.

He endorsed plans to protect the Edwardian Dome cinema in Worthing, calling it "utterly lovely and magical".

In his later years, Milligan devoted his time to raising money for Rye Rugby Club, where he regularly turned up in his battered Mini to watch matches.

In his last interview with the Argus, in July 2000, when asked if he was afraid of death, Milligan replied: "No, I just don't want to be there when it happens."