A semi-professional Prince William lookalike who appeared on Blue Peter and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes died in his sleep, an inquest heard today.

Matthew Turpin was suffering from an undiagnosed heart defect when he died on March 31. The 24-year-old funded his university degree with public appearances as "the number one Prince William lookalike", Oxford coroner Nicholas Gardiner heard.

Mr Turpin appeared fit and healthy when he last saw his parents at their home in Nottingham, a week before he was found dead at his home in Walker's Barn, Heathfield. The alarm was raised after he did not appear for his financial analyst's job.

After attempts to phone and email him by family members, his father drove from Nottingham to Heathfield but he was met by paramedics at the house.

Pc Paul Coombes said there were no suspicious circumstances and that the young man had died in his sleep. A post mortem examination failed to reveal the cause of death, but subsequent tests on Mr Turpin's vital organs by specialists revealed symptoms of cardio-myopathopy - a natural condition that can cause sudden death.

Mr Gardiner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes at the hearing at County Hall in Oxford.

After the hearing, father Patrick Turpin, 59, added: "With this illness you don't know if you have got it and you can go to sleep and not wake up. How can anybody come to terms with that?"