Auberon Waugh, the writer, journalist and satirist, has died suddenly in his sleep, aged 61, his wife said today.

The son of novelist Evelyn Waugh, he had a heart condition and passed away last night at his home in Somerset, Lady Teresa Waugh said. She said: "He had been unwell for quite a long time, with a bad heart.

"It's hard to sum up someone so wonderful, but I've been hanging round for 40 years so that says something."

Tributes began pouring in today to the writer whose long and distinguished career spanned a wide variety of publications, from the Daily Mirror and Private Eye to the Spectator and the Daily Mail.

He wrote a column in the Daily Telegraph for the past decade, and twice won columnist of the year in the What The Papers Say awards.

Today at offices of The Literary Review, the magazine he started in 1986, staff were stunned by the news. One said: "We are too upset to talk about it at the moment."

Charles Moore, editor of The Daily Telegraph, said Waugh was one of the best journalists he had known.

He said: "Bron Waugh was the finest journalist of his generation and also the bravest. He had a completely original view of life and he laughed in the face of the modern world."

Mr Moore added: "Most people are afraid of who they might upset and what it will make them look like if they speak their mind.

"He was totally without that form of fear. He was mentally brave. He would write something even if he thought it would get him the sack."

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