'Babe' author King-Smith dies

Author Dick King-Smith, whose novel The Sheep-Pig inspired the hit film Babe, has died at the age of 88. He had been in poor health for several years and died in his sleep.

Mr King-Smith was appointed OBE last year for services to children's literature.

The writer grew up in Gloucestershire and worked for 20 years as a farmer.

He was in his 50s when his first story, The Fox Busters, a tale of chickens who take their revenge on foxes, was published in 1978.

He went on to write dozens of books and sold more than five million copies in the UK alone.

The 1995 film Babe catapulted him to global fame.