Fun-loving Levon Morland "wrote his own epitaph" in an application for the new TV series of Big Brother just before his death at the age of 22.

Levon was photographed raising a glass with his twin brother and their friends on a night out, but hours later he was found dead.

He had just applied to be one of the housemates in the forthcoming series of the Channel Four show, and was found in bed by his mother.

Now the family is clinging to the Big Brother application form in which he wrote kind words about them.

The cause of his death is not yet known, but at the age of 12 he was diagnosed with the rare Wolfe Parkinson White disease, which causes occasional heart murmurs.

He was thought to be in good health after passing a medical test at Newcastle Freeman Hospital last year.

Levon's father, Geoff, 48, said: "It is as if he has written his own epitaph, all his thoughts are in there and we will always treasure it."

Mr Morland, regional political officer for the electrical engineering union Amicus, said the family has received hundreds of sympathy cards from Levon's friends around the world.

The Reverend David Guest will read extracts from the TV application form at Levon's funeral today at St Mary's parish church, in the family's home village of West Rainton, near Durham.

In it he wrote of his mother, Sandra: "She is a loving person and the perfect mother."

He also wrote: "If I went into the Big Brother house, the person I would miss most would be my twin brother, Aran."

Aran was with him on their last night out in Durham's Coach and Eight pub.

Now he is having precautionary tests to see whether he is clear of the condition that affected his brother.

The twins went through school together, attending West Rainton Primary, Belmont Comprehensive, Durham, and Durham Sixth Form College.