Vinnie Jones has broken his silence on his wife’s death, thanking fans for helping him deal with his “heavy grief”.

Tanya Jones died in July after a long illness at the age of 53, with Vinnie at her side.

Posting a picture of them together on Twitter on Sunday, the former footballer spoke for the first time about her death. 

He tweeted: “THANK YOU to each and every one of you for your kind thoughts and kind words through this devastating time you have all helped us enormously with this heavy grief, Vinnie.”

The couple married in 1994 and Tanya had a daughter, Kaley, with her former husband, and a son, Aaron, with Vinnie.

Tanya underwent an emergency heart transplant at the age of 21 following the birth of Kaley and is also reported to have suffered from cervical cancer.

In 2013, Vinnie, an ex-midfielder best known for being part of the Crazy Gang at Wimbledon, told of how the couple had both been diagnosed with skin cancer.

In a statement issued announcing news of her death earlier this year, a spokesperson for Vinnie said: “At 8.46am local time in Los Angeles on Saturday July 6, Vinnie Jones’s wife, Tanya Jones, passed away after a long illness.

“Tanya passed peacefully at the Jones family home surrounded by Vinnie, their daughter and other family members.

“Vinnie and the family ask for privacy while they go through an understandable period of mourning during this devastating time.”