A Sussex parish is mourning a fun-loving vicar who was as familiar on stage as he was at church.

The Reverend David Prout, 54, died of a heart attack just ten months after he left Eastbourne for Newmarket, Suffolk.

Fr David moved from St Elisabeth's Church, Victoria Drive, in September after four years there.

He made himself a firm favourite in the resort for mixing his ecclesiastical duties with television and theatrical roles.

In April 2001, we reported his list of showbiz credits, which included being the only real vicar to play one on television.

In 1994, he made a 30-second appearance in Channel 4 soap Brookside when he christened Max and Patricia Farnham's Downs syndrome baby.

Other credits included walk-on parts in ITV1's Spender, A Touch Of Frost and Simply Red's video of hit song Holding Back The Years.

Fr David said: "I travelled up to Brookside's Liverpool studio from Eastbourne in my clerical outfit and remember walking into wardrobe where I met a lovely young lady.

"She asked who I was and I explained that I was Fr David who had come along to play Max and Patricia's vicar. She couldn't believe I was a real vicar.

"She looked at me in my outfit and said, 'Are you trying to tell me I've spent the last four hours trying to get hold of a clerical outfit when you're already wearing one?' I had to laugh." Fr David said theatre was his great love.

He would dress in gaudy costume with make-up to star as a dame in Christmas pantomime.

His passion for performing arts led to his appointment as chaplain to Eastbourne Theatres, where he met the legendary late pianist Russ Conway, who died from cancer in Eastbourne in 2000.

At Mr Conway's star-studded memorial service at St Elisabeth's, Fr David roused the audience with an impromptu singalong of his finest hits, including Side Saddle.

Tony Armstrong-Barnes, a friend of Mr Conway's for 40 years, said: "It is a tragic loss.

"I will always remember that performance at Russ's memorial and at the unveiling of a plaque in his honour at the Royal Hippodrome.

"He really was a man of many talents and I know he will be missed."

Outside the church, Fr David raised thousands of pounds for charities at his favourite pub, The Pilot in Meads, Eastbourne.

Fr David once said: "Eastbourne is a wonderful place with a rich tapestry of people and talent, particularly within the arts."

Churchgoers from St Elisabeth's are expected to travel to his funeral service on August 5.