TV's Time Team expert Mick Aston dies aged 66

The presenter was instantly recognisable on the Channel 4 show due to his colourful stripy jumpers.

His death was announced yesterday by show colleague Phil Harding, although the cause of his death is not yet known.

Professor Aston, who taught at a number of universities including Birmingham, appeared in 19 series of the show, and was awarded the British Archaeological Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Tributes have been flooding in to the popular archaeologist, who lived in Somerset but was born and raised in?Oldbury, on both Twitter and Facebook.

Mike Heyworth, director of the Council for British Archaeology, said: "He was one of the world's leading archaeologists and was one of the best-known archaeologists around the world.

"He was also a lovely man, who had a belief that archaeology was fascinating and his passion was introducing people to it.

"He was one of the people behind Time Team, and that has inspired a whole generation to get into archaeology. There are well documented figures that show the number of applications to study it at university increased considerable after the show started.

"It's a huge shock to find out this news, it's devastating."

Professor Aston also taught at a number of universities across the UK including Oxford and Bristol, after studying geography at the University of Birmingham.

He left Time Team, which is fronted by Blackadder actor Tony Robinson, early last year, after reportedly being unhappy with the direction it was taking.