The wife of Are You Being Served? star Trevor Bannister has paid tribute to his impeccable comic timing following his death on top of an allotment shed.

The actor, best known for his role as Mr Lucas in the 1970s sitcom, was doing DIY at their allotment in Sugden Road, Thames Ditton, when he suffered a heart attack on Thursday, April 14.

Speaking from their Thames Ditton home in Queen’s Road, Pamela, his wife of almost two decades, said he would have been proud of his final take.

She said: “Trevor was up on our allotment, which he loved. He was a comic actor, and to die on top of the shed with a hammer in his hand – talk about a wonderful exit for a comic actor.

“I’m afraid the way he died was straight out of Last of the Summer Wine. “ Mr Bannister first came to prominence playing Heavy Breathing in The Dustbinmen in 1969, after which David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd wrote the department store comedy as a vehicle for his talents.

Playing a young menswear salesman, Mr Lucas was besotted by Wendy Richard’s Miss Brahms of the ladies’ underwear department.

He also played three characters in Coronation Street, and was most recently on screen as Tony Mulberry Smith, captain of the local golf club in Last of the Summer Wine.

Pamela said: “He adored [Are You Being Served?]. They were all huge friends. He still got a lot of fan mail, especially from America. I believe they still run it over there.

She added: “He was a genuinely funny, funny, funny man. He was a great comedy actor, and he would have laughed at how he departed this world, being brought down off the top of the roof by a fireman.”

As well as his TV career, he enjoyed many Christmases playing the dame in pantomimes across the country.

Apart from DIY, Mr Bannister was a passionate golfer at the Stage Golfing Society at Richmond Golf Club.

Two of his sons, Simon and Jeremy, followed him into show business as a company manager and promotional videos director respectively, while his third son Timothy is a chartered accountant.