After Life star Jo Hartley's pet budgie has died

Jo Hartley\'s pet budgie has died.

The 48-year-old actress - who stars alongside Ricky Gervais in his Netflix sitcom \'After Life\' - has confirmed the "very sad" news via Twitter, revealing Dippy has been "fighting a hard battle for a few months".

Alongside some photos of her beloved pet, Jo wrote on the micro-blogging platform: "Im very sad to share, that today I\'ve had to say goodbye to my DIPPY. He\'s been fighting a hard battle for a few months. It was time. I\'ll miss him so! He brought much love to my life. He came to sit with me for a while, just to say thank you, it was quite special. RIP Dippy! (sic)"

Jo\'s on-screen co-star Ricky is also well-known for his love of animals.

And the award-winning comedian has been outspoken on the issue of animal rights in the past.

Ricky previously explained: "I have empathy for everything - I\'m hardwired to - and some people think that animals are like inanimate objects without feelings and that dogs, say, don\'t feel sad.

"But that\'s just not true."

Ricky also revealed that he\'s frequently subjected to heckling on social media in response to his views on animals.

The comedy star - who has more than 14 million followers on Twitter - said: "I\'ll tweet about a bull being tortured to death and say, \'Ban bullfighting,\' and someone always says, like, \'What about the kids in Syria?\'.

"People can always think of a more worthwhile cause than yours, but they\'re just trying to heckle you. They\'re heckling."