Bill Tidy, the former Private Eye cartoonist, has died at the age of 89.

Tidy was known for his appearances on Countdown and the Watercolour Challenge and he received an MBE in 2000 for his services to journalism.  

His family announced his death on his Facebook page.

The post said: “It is with huge sadness that I have to share with you the tragic news that we lost our dad who is not only the most brilliant cartoonist (and) the very best dad two sons, a son in law and a daughter could ever wish for.”

Tidy was born in Liverpool in 1933, the BBC reported.

The cartoonist did not receive any formal artistic training and instead worked for the Royal Engineers in the Army before his career began as a cartoonist when he sold a sketch to a Japanese newspaper in 1955, according to the BBC.

His cartoons included The Cloggies, which appeared in the Private Eye from 1967 to 1981, and The Fosdyke Saga, which ran in the Daily Mirror from 1971 to 1985 and was later made into a BBC radio drama, the broadcaster reported.