Presenter Paul Ross is taking a break from the airwaves after admitting to drug use and a lengthy affair with another man whom he met while dogging.

The BBC London host, who has previously been a Big Breakfast star, talked about his personal problems in a newspaper interview at the weekend.

And he told today's Sun that he was worried he would die following a collapse after snorting the drug mephedrone - sometimes known as meow meow.

The incident, he said, was a wake-up call to the married star to sort his life out.

Ross, 57, said he consumed a hefty quantity of the drug before heading off to a hotel car park where the collapse occurred.

"I suddenly had this amazing clarity. I knew that I had to make a break with him and the drugs to try to keep my marriage alive," he said.

Ross claims he has not touched the drug for three weeks but the former teacher he had been seeing has tried to contact him at work.

The broadcaster's wife of 10 years, Jackie, discovered his secret by tracing his iPhone and heading to the flat where he had been using the drug. He avoided her and then fled to the car park where he collapsed.

In an interview with yesterday's Sun On Sunday, father-of-four Ross described himself as an addict and said: "The person I have been over the last 14 months isn't someone I recognise. I have done things I didn't even think it was possible for a human being to do."

Ross - brother of ITV chat host Jonathan - was absent from the breakfast programme he usually hosts with Penny Smith, replaced by Nick Godwin.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "Paul has spoken about his personal problems at length in the article. He is taking some time off to deal with those issues."