EastEnders star Samantha Janus has been left devastated after her father reportedly hanged himself.

The distraught Samantha was pictured in floods of tears outside Noel Janus’s one-bedroom council flat in Brighton yesterday.

The 36-year-old was accompanied by her husband, actor Mark Womack, who said: ‘She asks to be left alone to grieve with her family.’

Mr Janus, 60, was the brother of George Best’s ex-wife Angie and was believed to have been suffering from depression.

Neighbour John Austin, 63, said: ‘As far as we knew he hanged himself.

‘He was a nice chap and I got on with him. I saw him coming back with his dog on Friday evening.

He seemed quite bright even though he had heart trouble.’

Samantha, who plays barmaid Ronnie in EastEnders is believed to have had a strained relationship with her father.

The former songwriter, who had worked with bands including Fleetwood Mac, left his wife and Samantha when she was just six years old.

He attended her wedding earlier this year, but was said to be upset when he was not included in any of the photographs from the event.

He described the snub as ‘a dagger to the heart.

‘The whole of Sam’s side of the family, including myself and her mother, have been completely left out of all the photos.

‘They show only Mark’s side of the family. It’s like we weren’t there – we don’t exist.’

His daughter also refused to allow him to walk her down the aisle or make a speech on her big day.

Mr Janus had told neighbours he was suffering from heart trouble.

Mark Berridge, 49, said: ‘He told me he was going to the hospital to get results on his heart.

‘When he got back I asked him how he got on and he said he was fine.

‘For all we know he might have known his illness was going to kill him and decided to take the easiest way out.’

Mr Janus lived in a flat at Mimosa Court, Burstead Close, Brighton.

A Sussex Police spokesman said: ‘We were called by an ambulance crew at about 1.30pm on Saturday.

‘The death is not being treated as suspicious. An inquest will be held in due course.’

Relations between Samantha and her father had reportedly been so bad they had not spoken for 20 years.

Their relationship was rekindled in 1996 when Mr Janus sent her a surprise parcel to  London’s Dominion Theatre where she was performing in Grease.

Samantha said at the time: ‘The only way I can cope with it is to block it out. It was very traumatic.

‘You have a fantasy figure in your mind and that’s suddenly shattered by this real person – an ageing adult with problems and insecurities. I was reluctant to give up the romantic image of him, but life’s too short and I guess it’s what you have to do.’

The tricky reunion wasn’t made any easier by suggestions that Mr Janus only got back in touch because his estranged daughter was now a star, but she dismissed the idea.

In one interview she fondly recalled: ‘I remember sitting on my father’s knee with him playing the acoustic guitar.’

Samantha and her husband Mark, who have been together for ten years are parents to Ben, eight, and three-year-old daughter Lily-Rose.

The couple met when they worked together on the police drama series Liverpool 1.

Samantha was accused of wrecking Mark’s marriage after he walked out on wife Therese to be with the star.

The affair also led to the end of the actress’s marriage to British Airways steward Junfan Mantovani.> D Mail.