FORMER Antiques Roadshow presenter Hugh Scully has died at the age of 72, it has been announced.

Scully, who would become synonymous with the show over almost two decades before leaving in 2000, passed away while watching television on Thursday afternoon at his home in Cornwall, his son Oliver told the BBC.

Peter Salmon, director of BBC Studios and controller of BBC One between 1997 and 2000, said: "Hugh was a great servant of the BBC for more than 30 years.

"He was a wonderful journalist and presenter, making his name at Spotlight and Nationwide before going on to spend an incredible 19 years at Antiques Roadshow, where he won a special place in the hearts of so many. He will be sadly missed."

The Antiques Roadshow tweeted: "We are saddened to hear the news of the death of Hugh Scully."

Scully first joined the BBC in 1965 as a freelance journalist. The public first became familiar with him on mainstream scale when he presented the current affairs programme Nationwide.

While at Nationwide, he persuaded Margaret Thatcher to work on a series of programmes on the Downing Street years.

Sue Lawley, his colleague on Nationwide, told the BBC Scully and Mrs Thatcher "became firm friends".

Lawley said Scully was "always happy, jolly and wonderful".

In 1981, he was chosen to present Antiques Roadshow alongside Arthur Negus. Scully would stay on the show for almost two decades before leaving in 2000 when he was replaced with Michael Aspell.

He then went on to help launch an online antiques business for an auction firm and left amid concern that his new role would conflict with his position on the popular show, according to the BBC.

When he left he described his position at Antiques Roadshow as a "delight" and "one of the best jobs in broadcasting".

He said at the time: "I come to the end of my contract next month.

"Normally they ring me the following February and suggest another series. This time it is going to be rather different. They want to see if there's a conflict of interest

"I don't think there is a conflict of interest, because the BBC can never supply this kind of service. Antiques Roadshow is television entertainment.

"But I can understand why people think there might be a conflict. I have to be realistic and admit that my time with the BBC might be coming to an end."

Scully also complimented the choice of Michael Aspel as his replacement, calling him "one of the very best presenters in the UK".

Scully was married to his wife Barbara for 43-years before she died aged 69 in 2009.

He told the Falmouth Packet at the time that she was his "best fried and soulmate".

The pair moved to Mawnan, Cornwall, in 1993 after the presenter found a house in Country Life magazine. They would go on to raised tens of thousands of pounds for the local RNLI and Mawnan Parish Church through an antiques validation day in their garden of their home in Treworgan.

Fellow BBC presenters Lizo Mzimba and David Sillito were among those to pay tribute to Scully.