'Bill' star dies at clinic after drinking session

THE actor Kevin Lloyd, who starred as Detective Constable Tosh Lines in ITV'S The Bill, has died after drinking at a pub, police said. Colleagues yesterday spoke of their "shock and sadness" at the death of the father-of-seven, who had been drinking at a village pub on Saturday near the Staffordshire clinic where he was battling alcoholism.

A spokesman for the Dove Clinic in Rolleston, where he collapsed, said the 49-year-old star had booked in last Tuesday - hours after being told that he had been sacked from his pounds 130,000-a-year role. He added: "Despite all efforts Mr Lloyd failed to respond to clinical inputs and was in the process of being discharged. Tragically on Saturday Mr Lloyd fell into unconsciousness after drinking alcohol and staff were unable to resuscitate."

Billy Murray, who plays Detective Sergeant Don Beech in The Bill said the cast was "shocked and saddened" at the news of Lloyd's death and that he would be greatly missed. "Kevin was Tosh. His life mirrored his character's life," he said. Lloyd was himself the son of a policeman who died when his car skidded off the road in an emergency call, leaving his mother a widow at the age of 49. His own marriage broke up in 1995 after 22 years.