Disgraced former publicist Max Clifford, imprisoned for a series of sexual assaults, was fighting for his life last night after collapsing twice in his cell before suffering a cardiac arrest in hospital.

Clifford, 74, is serving an eight-year sentence at Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire for sex attacks carried out between 1977 and 1985 on four girls aged between 15 and 19. He has been seriously ill since suffering a heart attack in August.

His daughter, Louise, 46, said: ‘He collapsed in his cell on Thursday when he was trying to clean it – it was just too much.

‘Next day he collapsed again and was unconscious for several minutes – though he doesn’t know how long.

‘He was seen by a nurse, who insisted he must be transferred to a local hospital.

‘That’s where he had his cardiac arrest, later on Friday. He is now in the critical care unit. He’s in a bad way.’

Read more Here