Tributes have been paid to a father-of-two who died in police cells at Clacton.

Denny Douglas, 49, of Marine Parade East, collapsed after being detained at the town's station.

A post-mortem examination revealed he died from natural heart disease.

Mr Douglas's wife Bev had called police to her home in Little Clacton in the early hours of Tuesday.

Mrs Douglas said her husband, who was a talented and popular musician who worked all over Essex, had been under a great deal of stress and was acting strangely on the night police were called.

He was taken to Clacton police cells where he later died. Mrs Douglas said the examination later revealed Mr Douglas had a heart condition which had never previously been detected.

She said: "I now know that was due to his heart being enlarged and there was a problem with oxygen getting to his brain.

"Things had just got on top of him and aggravated his condition."

The couple had been separated but were trying to work through their problems and get back together.

Mrs Douglas said her husband was a loving father and husband and a talented musician. The couple have two sons, Aaron, 12, and Sean, 11.

"He played at my 40th birthday and it was a really wonderful night," she added. Mr Douglas moved to Clacton in the 1970s and at that time was a duo with his ex-wife Helga.

An inquest into Mr Douglas's death was opened and adjourned in Colchester yesterday .

Det Chief Insp Kevin Macey said the post-mortem examination showed a provisional cause of death was natural heart disease which is due to be confirmed.

An investigation is being carried out by the Police Complaints Authority - as is normal when anyone dies in custody.

Det Chief Insp Kevin Macey told the inquest yesterday police went to an address at 12.42am on Tuesday responding to a 999 call from a distressed woman who had reported problems with her estranged husband.

Mr Denny was detained under the Mental Health Act and taken to the station where he was seen by the police surgeon and a social worker.

Mr Macey said 18 minutes later Mr Douglas was found face down in the cell. He said: "Officers administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage, an ambulance was called and the police surgeon was recalled."

However, Mr Douglas was certified dead at 2.27am.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.