A RESPECTED former journalist from Burnley has died suddenly at home, aged 39.

David Bamber was found dead by police who broke into his London home after concerned friends raised the alarm after not being able to get in touch with him.

Mr Bamber, who grew up in Scarlett Street, Burnley, and attended Ivy Bank High School, was the home affairs correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph.

His dad, Peter Bamber, 79, said his son died from gastrointestinal bleeding, last Monday. Mr Bamber would have been 40 last Saturday.

In the early 1990s he worked for a local paper in Hull before moving to London, where he was a Parliamentary correspondent.

Mr Bamber joined The Sunday Telegraph in 1998 where he worked for six years before becoming a senior researcher for Fraser Kemp, MP for Houghton and Washington East.

Mr Bamber senior, a former worker for Shopfitters of Nelson, now lives in Swinden Hall Road, Nelson.

He said: "It was always an ambition of David's to become a reporter.

"David got on with a lot of people and had a lot of friends."

A post mortem examination found Mr Bamber died from natural causes and there will be no inquest, said his father.

Mr Bamber also leaves a mother, Edith, 77, partner James Bosman, and a brother Andrew, 38. His funeral will be held at Rosehill Baptist Church, Rosehill Road, Burnley, on Thursday, followed by a service at Burnley Cemetery.