LEGENDARY DJ John Peel has died of a heart attack at the age of 65 while on holiday in Peru.

Peel was born John Robert Parker Ravenscroft into a well-off Heswall family on August 30, 1939, and was one of Wirral's most famous exports.

He spent the first 16 years of his life in the working village of Burton and was educated as a boarder at Shrewsbury School before joining the military.

When he finished his military service in 1962, he travelled to Dallas, Texas, where he used his Liverpool connections to help him get his first job in radio by telling the station manager he was a friend of the Beatles - a white lie that led to an illustrious career that spanned more than 40 years.

John was in Dallas when John F. Kennedy was shot and attended the press conference just before Lee Harvey Oswald, the man accused of assassinating the American President, was himself shot dead by Jack Ruby.

He later worked for a radio station in California before retuning home to England in 1967 to work for an offshore pirate radio station, "Radio London", where he first adopted the name "John Peel".

New legislation forced the station's closure in August 1967 and John joined the BBC's new music pop station.

He became one of the first DJs to give exposure to punk, reggae and hip-hop before they crossed over into the mainstream.

His eclectic musical taste inspired millions of listeners and earned him 43rd place in the BBC's 100 Greatest Britons of all time survey.

John was the last BBC Radio One DJ from the original 1967 line-up still to be on air. His two radio shows, Home Truths and The John Peel Show, were often broadcast from his home, Peel Acres, in Suffolk, where he lived with his wife Sheila, known affectionately as The Pig, and their children, William, Alexandra, Thomas and Florence. As well as his radio shows, he wrote a column for The Times and presented the annual coverage of the Glastonbury Festival.

John still occasionally visited Wirral and had said that he was astonished by the changes that had taken place since the war.

Former OMD front man Andy McCluskey, who lives in Wirral, paid tribute to the man who he said inspired him and helped launch his career.

He said: "I and several hundred other musicians owe a massive debt of gratitude to John.

"He was instrumental in playing our records and allowing many musicians to find their first record deals.

"He was also hugely important because he played such a vast selection of music that certainly influenced my own song writing."