REALITY TV star Jade Goody died in the early hours of this morning. Her publicist Max Clifford said she died peacefully in her sleep.

REALITY TV star Jade Goody died in the early hours of this morning.

Her publicist Max Clifford said she died peacefully in her sleep.

The reality TV star, who suffered a public battle with cervical cancer, died at 3.14am on Mother's Day at her home in Upshire in Essex.

Jade's mother Jackiey Budden said: "My beautiful daughter is at peace."

Mr Clifford said Jackiey and husband Jack Tweed were at her side. He said he hoped the family would be left in peace to grieve.

Jade's body was taken out of her home shortly before 8am.

Jackiey said: "Family and friends would like privacy at last.'

Mourners started arriving at the house to pay tribute to Jade within minutes of the news breaking. They left floral tributes at the gates of her home.

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK's chief executive, said: "We are very sad to hear of Jade's death and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this devastating time.

"Her brave battle with an aggressive form of cervical cancer has received widespread public attention and encouraged thousands of women to seek advice on how to prevent the disease. '

Jade, from Bermondsey in south east London, rose to prominence on the third series of Big Brother in 2002 by revealing a startling lack of general knowledge - she famously asked a fellow contestant from Cambridge where “East Angular” was.

She did not win Big Brother, but certainly became one of the biggest stars created by the programme.

When she entered the house shortly before her 21st birthday she was a trainee dental nurse facing legal action for an unpaid council tax bill. Six years later she was reputedly worth �2 million.

She lived her life in public view through the pages of newspapers and glossy magazines and via a series of "fly on the wall' programmes.

Jade made many personal appearances - including a visit to Ipswich where her bubbly enthusiasm for life delighted the crowd.

She hit the headlines again for the wrong reasons in 2007 when she was accused of racism and bullying towards Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty when the pair appeared on Celebrity Big Brother.

However the two later became close friends and Jade agreed to take part in an Indian version of the programme last summer.

It was while she was filming there that she was told she had cancer and flew home for treatment.

She had two sons, Bobby, five, and Freddie, four, with TV presenter and fellow reality star Jeff Brazier but the relationship ended after two years.

She later got together with model Jack Tweed, who was recently jailed for assaulting a teenager. The pair married last month.