Author and raconteur Keith Waterhouse has died "quietly in his sleep" at the age of 80, a spokeswoman has announced.

Waterhouse made his screenwriting debut on the 1961 film Whistle Down The Wind.

But he remains best known for the 1959 novel Billy Liar - which was made into a critically acclaimed film starring Tom Courtenay in 1963.

He was a prolific newspaper columnist and playwright with works including Mr and Mrs Nobody and the 1989 West End hit Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.