TV viewers noticed his hand shaking during a report on 5G technology on BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning.

Symptoms of Parkinson's - a degenerative brain condition - include involuntary tremors and stiff muscles.

"I'm getting good treatment and the symptoms are mild right now - so I'm carrying on as normal. Onwards and upwards!" he wrote on Twitter.

His BBC colleagues and MPs were among those to offer messages of support on social media, with Brussels reporter Adam Fleming writing: "True public service to be so open about it. Best wishes."

Julie Dodd, a director at Parkinson's UK, said: "Being diagnosed with Parkinson's can be a scary and isolating time, so it is fantastic to hear that Rory is receiving the treatment he needs and is able to approach his diagnosis with such a positive attitude.

"Parkinson's will affect one in 37 of us in our lifetime, but it remains a little understood condition.

"While most people associate it with a tremor, there are actually more than 40 symptoms and it affects everyone differently."

Cellan-Jones started his BBC career as a researcher on Look North and became the business and economics correspondent in 1990.

After the dot-com crash of 2000, he wrote the book Dot.bomb and has reported on the growth of websites and internet companies.