PATRICK SWAYZE - PATRICK SWAYZE'S PUBLICIST SLAMS 'RECKLESS' DEATH REPORTS

PATRICK SWAYZE'S PUBLICIST SLAMS 'RECKLESS' DEATH REPORTS

Inaccurate claims that Patrick Swayze had died after a battle with cancer have been labelled "severely reckless" by his publicist.

Rumours surfaced on Tuesday after a Florida radio station posted an update on microblogging site Twitter claiming the Dirty Dancing star had passed away following a struggle with pancreatic cancer.

The Kiss FM note soon surfaced elsewhere online with several Twitter updates posted regarding Swayze's apparent 'death' while his Wikipedia was briefly changed.

However, it soon became clear that the rumours were unfounded, with celebrity blogger Perez Hilton criticising those who circulated the "unfounded" story for failing to confirm its authenticity with Swayze's family.

The 56-year-old actor's publicist Annett Wolf soon after issued a statement denying any reports of Swayze's death.

"This is to confirm that Patrick Swayze did not pass away this morning contrary to severely reckless reports stemming from a radio station in Jacksonville, Florida," she said.

"Patrick Swayze is alive, well and is enjoying his life and he continues to respond to treatment."

This is not the first occasion in which Swayze's health has been the subject of inaccurate tabloid reporting, with the actor rubbishing "shoddy and reckless reporting" that claimed he was on his death bed in December.

Swayze, star of crime drama series The Beast, acknowledged in an interview this year that he was suffering from a particularly virulent form of cancer and may only have two years to live.