Tributes for beloved actor Bob Hoskins flooded social media today after people mistakenly thought he had died overnight.

Mr Hoskins, best known for his roles in The Long Good Friday and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, died of pneumonia on April 30, 2014.

But after a BBC obituary from the time was retweeted as a mark of respect for the 71-year-old on the anniversary of his death several people believed the actor had only just died.

Actor Charlie Lawson wrote on Twitter: "Never a 'celebrity', Bob Hoskins was a great actor. First met him at the Roundhouse. A good man and great fun RIP."

The obituary for Mr Hoskins, who was from Harrow and filmed at Elstree Studios, featured on the BBC's 'most read' section of its website today.

Once the confusion was realised, many then posted tweets commenting on how Twitter had managed to kill a man twice.

Mark Greig wrote: "Seems Bob Hoskins has died again. Curse you, 2016! You weren't happy killing living celebs now you have to go for dead ones too."

Michael Brierley said: "Horrible to see that Bob Hoskins has died for the second time in two years, this time from Twitter-related complications. RIP Smee."