British actor Roger Moore has died.

A message posted on his official Twitter account by his family said the James Bond star had died in Switzerland after a "short but brave battle with cancer."

“With the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated,” the statement said.

“The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone.

“We know our own love and admiration will be magnified many times over, across the world, by people who knew him for his films, his television shows and his passionate work for Unicef which he considered to be his greatest achievement.

“The affection our father felt whenever he walked on stage or in front of a camera buoyed him hugely and kept him busy working into his 90th year, through to his last appearance in November 2016 on stage at London’s Royal Festival Hall.”

The statement affectionately added: “Thank you Pops for being you, and for being so very special to so many people”.

more to follow