A terminally ill British man who had sought medical help to end his life died today in Switzerland.

Reginald Crew, 74, suffered from motor neurone disease for the last four years and was paralyzed from the neck down. He died this afternoon in flat in Zurich after doctors there provided him with an overdose of barbiturates. His wife, Win, 71, and their daughter were with him.

Mr Crew, a former car worker from Liverpool, joined the Zurich-based assisted suicide organisation Dignitas last month.

Mr Crew flew into Switzerland earlier today. Prior to his suicide, a Swiss doctor confirmed that Mr Crew was of sound mind. He was then taken to a secret location in Zurich and given a drink of water containing a large dose of barbiturates.

Today a Dignitas spokesman said Mr Crew fell into a coma and passed away at 2.04pm GMT.

Swiss law does not specifically sanction assisted suicide, but doctors are not prosecuted for humane attempts to end suffering. Assisted suicide is illegal in the UK.

Ludwig Minelli, the journalist and human rights campaigner who founded Dignitas, explained earlier in the day: "He will be spoken to by a physician about his illness and his state of mind. If everything is in order, he will be taken to our flat to be given the prescription.

"That will happen today, because our clients are already in a bad state and they do not want to spend a night in a foreign bed."

Mr Minelli added: "The doctor also speaks to members of the family. They are usually extremely sad to be losing a loved one.

"They don't object, but even if they did, they do not have the power to stop the procedure because it is up to the individual whether he wants to die."

Last month, when he revealed his plans to join Dignitas, Mr Crew said: "Getting this would be the best gift I could hope for. It is the only chance I have left.

"Even getting up in the morning is like running a four-minute mile, and I am sick of it. It is killing my family to look after me and it is killing me to have to live like this. I just want to be taken from this earth."

It costs less than £50 to join Dignitas, which is a non-profit organisation.

Mr Crew is believed to be the second Briton to end their life with the help of Dignitas. The first, thought to be a 77-year-old man with throat cancer, was given a fatal barbiturate in October. His identity was not disclosed.