David Bowie dies: David Cameron killed off on air instead by Heart FM news reader Fiona Winchester

Heart FM news reader Fiona Winchester was left red-faced after she accidentally killed off prime minister David Cameron while she read the news that David Bowie had died from cancer.

The journalist was announcing the musician's shock death when she inadvertently muddled up her Davids. "David Cameron has died," she announced, before quickly correcting herself and replacing Cameron's name with Bowie's.

The pioneering artist died at home in New York on Sunday (10 January) from cancer just days after releasing his final album, "Blackstar". He was 69 years old. The news of his death first appeared on the star's Facebook page and was dismissed by some as a hoax. However, son Duncan later confirmed his father had died on Twitter.

Cameron himself earlier cited Hunky Dory as his favourite Bowie album and paid tribute to the musician on his Facebook page. "David Bowie was someone who people of my age, and those quite a bit older, felt we grew up with. He provided a soundtrack to our lives, from the first time I heard Space Oddity to the pride of welcoming British athletes at the London Olympics to one of his masterpieces – 'Heroes'.

"He was also a master of reinvention, who kept getting it right, leaving a body of work that people will still be listening to in 100 years. He was someone who truly deserves to be described as a genius."