Ross Burden dead: Ready Steady Cook and MasterChef presenter died of Legionnaires' disease because of infected hospital water

Jude Harwood, Burden’s mother, indicated he had been on the road to recovery following a successful bone marrow transplant

Burden, who worked with Fern Britton and Ainsley Harriott

Ross Burden, the TV chef who appeared on Ready Steady Cook and MasterChef, passed away after contracting Legionnaires' disease because of an infected water supply at the hospital he was receiving care from.

He was being treated for leukaemia but, according to a coroner’s report published by the Sunday Star Times in New Zealand and quoted by The Mirror, he breathed in Legionella bacteria that had cultivated in the hot water system at Auckland Hospital.

Jude Harwood, Burden’s mother and a former nurse, indicated he had been on the road to recovery following a successful bone marrow transplant for his leukaemia.

He was diagnosed with standard pneumonia and given a nebuliser. But friends who visited him at his bedside noticed it was being filled up with tap water, rather than sterile water.

Harwood said she had written to the hospital on Friday to lodge a formal complaint.

She wrote that he had “died before he could complain” and added she was “shocked” that visitors were not asked to wear gowns to avoid cross-contamination.

“I just don’t want someone else to lose their son and die of Legionnaires disease when they could have come home,” she concluded.

A spokesperson from the hospital was quoted by The Mirror as saying: “We regret that this patient contracted this infection while in our care and have extended an invitation to meet with them to discuss this.

“The board was reviewing the clinical care it provided but it would not be appropriate to comment further while the case was before the coroner.”

Ross Burden pictured in 2002 (AFP/Getty)

The celebrity chef, who was born in New Zealand and became a household name in the UK after reaching the final of the BBC cooking series in 1993, passed away on 17 July after suffering from cancer.

Hughes told the New Zealand Herald that Burden had been one assignment away from completing a Masters in Maori Studies at Auckland University.

She said: “He's just a friendly, compassionate guy - nothing was too much trouble. He was my big, fantastic incredible, larger-than-life brother.

“Right up until probably a week-and-a-half ago, he was making his next lot of plans. He had the world map out.”

“He was great to work with,” MasterChef judge Simon Gault told the New Zealand Herald. “He was never a minute without a laugh or a joke - great sense of humour.”