Grieving Fiona Phillips is convinced the powerful pills prescribed to her late dad to treat his Alzheimer's disease brought on his early death.

The former GMTV host has long campaigned for better care for those suffering from Alzheimer's after both her mother and father were struck down by the awful disease.

Her beloved dad Neville died several weeks ago, and the star admits she is being kept awake at night by his doctors' decision to give him strong sedatives in his final days, insisting they completely abolished his personality.

Fiona is adamant that if her father, who was 77 when he passed away, had never taken the drugs, he would have been around for several more years.

She tells The Mirror: "I am so angry at the way my lovely, lovely dad was treated at the end. In his final weeks he was so coshed by drugs that his poor body couldn't cope.

"They robbed him of his laughter, then his smile which was all that he had got left and I am absolutely furious about that. Then they robbed him of his life. That is what is keeping me awake at night now, it's the anger.

"Without the powerful drugs they used to sedate him he could have had another few years. Maybe I'm being selfish because he wouldn't have wanted to continue to be dependent on others. But that wasn't a decision to be made by the medical system on his behalf."

Fiona reveals she asked carers at the hospital to cut down his list of pills after they quickly changed his looks and demeanour.

She added, "He'd put on weight from the drugs and his hair was white. 'Oh dad,' I said, 'What have they done to you?' And I broke down in tears. But there was no response, he was totally out of it. His body had been clobbered with drugs.

"He shouldn't have gone. Not then. That's what I will never be able to forgive. I wish I'd done more at the time to say, 'He's not taking those bloody drugs.' My only regret is that I could have done more for mum and dad."