Beaconsfield residents have shared their memories of ‘brilliant and lovely’ TV doctor Michael Mosley after he was confirmed to have died while holidaying on a Greek island.

The 67-year-old TV broadcaster and columnist went missing near Agios Nikolaos beach on the island of Symi on Wednesday after setting off on a walk by himself to the centre of the island.

His wife Claire Bailey Mosley, who lived with her husband in Beaconsfield, confirmed that a body found on Sunday morning in a rocky area near the Agia Marina beach was her husband, describing the loss as “devastating”.

Locals of the Buckinghamshire town where Mosley, who hosted a number of science programmes and was a known advocate of intermittent fasting and the 5:2 diet, lived before his untimely passing have now joined the number of prominent figures paying tribute to the man who had become a “national treasure” through his work to innovate the science and healthcare space.

Several residents shared their memories of spotting the TV doctor around Beaconsfield, with Phil Barron remembering joint commutes with the 67-year-old between Bucks and London Marylebone, when he struck him as “a genuinely nice, unassuming chap (with) no hint of arrogance”.

Marcus Osborn described Mosley as “a great British gentleman”, while Heather Wicks, who said she would regularly see him out cycling around Beaconsfield, said his loss was “so very sad”.

Val Hardy, who once sat next to the well-known TV personality and his wife while out for a coffee, also said the news was “very sad”, while Claire Louise said her partner had met him while out and about and reaffirmed his description as a “real gentleman”.

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Several Buckinghamshire residents also remembered seeing Mosley and Bailey on their joint tour Eat (Well), Sleep (Better), Live (Longer) at the Wycombe Swan back in February, which Dorothy Allsop said she had “loved”.

Demonstrating the breadth of his reach in his chosen field, many local people also credited the TV doctor with helping to improve their health, especially through his BBC podcast and book Just One Thing.

Andrea Gosling described Mosley’s death, which authorities have confirmed was from natural causes, as “such a sad end for a lovely man who went out of his way to help others”, while Jenny Fray-Barnard praised him for being a “brilliant doctor, figurehead, and wonderful informer on how to live and eat well”.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan, who co-presented the BBC’s Trust Me, I’m A Doctor series alongside Mosley, told BBC News that she had known him as “a national treasure”, who was “hugely talented (with) a passion for explaining science to a wider audience”.

Other journalists, broadcasters and high-profile friends of the 67-year-old also joined in paying tribute to the “wonderfully sweet and kind man”, describing him as “humble, enthusiastic and very generous with his time”.