Oxford-born physicist Stephen Hawking remains “very ill” in hospital this morning.

Professor Hawking, 67, who suffers from motor neurone disease, spent the night at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge after being taken there by ambulance when he fell ill yesterday.

The father-of-three is best known for his book A Brief History of Time.

A university spokesman said: “Professor Hawking is very ill. He is undergoing tests.

“He is in a comfortable condition and will spend the night in hospital.”

Professor Hawking was born in Oxford and later studied at Oxford University.

He developed symptoms of motor neurone disease on the late 1960s and is one of the world’s longest-surviving sufferers.