Satirist Justin Nurse has stepped down from his Laugh it Off company after being diagnosed with Bell's palsy, The Times reported on Friday.

Nurse, whose two-year-old daughter Vanilla died a month ago in a car fire, said in a letter to staff that he was at a "dark place".

He said he had a "break down" on Friday and that when he woke up, he could not speak.

He has since been diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a paralysis of the facial nerve which can be triggered by emotional stress, the newspaper reported.

"I still know funny," said Nurse. "But no longer have the appetite or energy to laugh at it."