Phill Jupitus has bid a fond farewell to his friend and fellow Never Mind The Buzzcocks panellist, Sean Hughes, 51, died on Monday.

The comedian, who lives in Leigh, posted a tribute on Twitter following Mr Hughes’ death, ending the post by saying: “We exchanged the standard ‘We must catch up for a beer sometime.’ But, we never did.”

Mr Hughes was a team captain on the long standing BBC Two show, facing off against Mr Jupitus every week alongside a panel of comics and music stars.

Describing Hughes’ performances, Mr Jupitus said: “I gigged with Sean a bunch before Buzzcocks. Tongue and cheek mostly. Funny, dry, off kilter, always asking more questions than he ever answered.

“I loved it when he dropped serious poems into his comedy set. No warning. No apology.”

Mr Hughes was the youngest-ever comedian to win the Perrier Award, now the Edinburgh Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1990 when he was just 24.

Britain’s best-loved comics including Jack Dee, Al Murray, Jason Manford and Richard Herring also paid tribute to the highly-rated presenter, Coronation Street actor and novelist’s premature loss.