For each of us who loved Hazel and Fiver and the world they allowed us a peek into.,, Richard Adams, the author of Watership Down, has died aged 96.


A statement on the book's official website said: "Richard's much-loved family announce with sadness that their dear father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away peacefully at 10pm on Christmas Eve.'The novel, first published in 1972, became one of the bestselling children's books of all time, selling tens of millions of copies.


Adams did not begin writing until 1966, when he was 46 and working for the civil service. While on a car trip with his daughters, he began telling them a story about a group of young rabbits escaping from their doomed warren.