Author and illustrator Raymond Briggs, best-known for the 1978 children’s picture book The Snowman, has died aged 88.

His family said in a statement through his publisher Penguin Random House that Briggs died on Tuesday morning.

The Snowman has sold more than 5.5 million copies around the world, and Briggs also created beloved children’s books Father Christmas and Fungus The Bogeyman.

An animated version of The Snowman made for Channel 4 in 1982 has become a festive staple and has been shown every Christmas since.

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