Former Antiques Roadshow presenter Hugh Scully, who lived in Mawnan Smith for many years, has died at the age of 72, reportedly while at home watching television.

Mr Scully and his wife, Barbara, who died in 2009, moved to Mawnan in 1993 after spotting a house advertised in the Country Life magazine. They viewed Treworgan the next day and bought it on the spot.

The couple went on to raise tens of thousands of pounds for the RNLI and Mawnan Parish Church after hitting upon the idea of holding Antiques Roadshow-style events in their garden each August bank holiday. They managed to attract many national television personalities to the events which always drew a bumper crowd.

Mr Scully had joined the BBC as a freelance journalist in 1965 and hosted Nationwide before going on in 1981 to present the Antiques Roadshow with Arthur Negus. He stayed with the hugely popular show until 2000 when he resigned and joined an internet auction company launching an antiques business.

After losing his wife Barbara in 2009, he said: “I miss her terribly. She was not just my wife for 43 years but my best friend and soulmate. I don’t know what I will do without my dearest Barbara. I am devastated by her death. I will mourn her for the rest of my life.”

Mrs Scully's funeral service took place at Mawnan Parish Church and she was buried in a "country churchyard within the sound of the sea." It is expected that Mr Scully's funeral service will also be held at the church in Mawnan after which he will be laid to rest alongside his wife.

Mr Scully died at his home at Tresillian near Truro last Thursday afternoon. He is survived by his two sons, Charles and Oliver.