Carol Vorderman has paid a moving tribute to her friend and former colleague Des O'Connor following his death at the age of 88 on Saturday.

The veteran entertainer passed away peacefully in his sleep in hospital after suffering a fall at his home a week earlier.

Vorderman and O'Connor appeared together on the long-running Channel 4 quiz show for two years in 2007 and 2008 and, speaking after his death, she described him as "a joy to work with".

"RIP Des O'Connor," she wrote on Twitter. "So sad this morning to hear that darling Des has passed away. He was the host of Countdown for a couple of years and was a joy to work with.

"Lively, funny, he ALWAYS wanted to entertain people.

"I will remember him most tho for his brilliant chat shows in the days when families would gather round the telly to watch, Des O'Connor was the King. We'd cry laughing when Freddie Starr would pretend to be behaving and things would go badly wrong.

"Des will surely be entertaining the angels now. Rest In Peace & Laughter my friend."

O'Connor's former daytime co-host Melanie Sykes has also paid tribute to the star, calling him "the full ticket as a friend and colleague".