A Policeman who collapsed and died during a rugby game at the weekend is believed to have suffered a heart attack, his friends said last night.

P.c. Paul Marsden, 36, collapsed on Sunday afternoon while playing for the Police rugby team against the Mariners at the National Sports Centre, Prospect. Teammates and medics battled to save him, but he was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Friends of the popular and well-known officer told they have heard ?unofficially? that he suffered an acute coronary attack that could neither have been prevented nor detected.

Earlier in the day, Coroner?s Officer Insp. Phil Taylor confirmed that an autopsy had indicated P.c. Marsden?s death was due to natural causes.

Although final results from routine toxicology tests are still awaited, it is unlikely that there will need to be an inquest to establish the cause of death, he added.

A Police spokesman declined to comment on the issue, saying no further information would be made public about a death of this nature ?unless it was untoward?.

P.c. Marsden, a popular British constable who was originally from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, had joined the Bermuda Police in April, 2004.

Previously with the Thames Valley Police in the UK where he worked as a traffic officer, he once appeared on a reality TV cop show.

His most recent positions within the Bermuda Police Service were as a patrol officer with the Policing Department in Hamilton and then as a tutor to new recruits at the Police Training Unit, Prospect.

His family in the UK are due to arrive in Bermuda tomorrow, ahead of a memorial service that will take place at St. John?s Church, Pembroke, at 4 p.m on Friday.

Bermuda Police Rugby Football Club who have cancelled their match this Sunday as a mark of respect.

The following weekend, P.c. Marsden?s number 15 shirt will be officially retired.