The Royal Navy's most decorated pilot has died at the age of 97.

Capt Eric "Winkle" Brown, from Leith, held the world record for flying the largest number of different types of aircraft - a staggering 487.

During World War II he flew fighter aircraft and witnessed the liberation of the Bergen Belsen concentration camp.

The pilot who survived a torpedo attack and helped interrogate a captured Hermann Goering was the first person to land a jet on an aircraft carrier and piloted Britain's first supersonic flight.

He died at the East Surrey Hospital in Redhill after a short illness.

His family said in a statement:"It is with deep regret that the passing of Captain Eric Melrose Brown CBE DSC AFC is announced.

"Eric was the most decorated pilot of the Fleet Air Arm in which service he was universally known as 'Winkle' on account of his diminutive stature.

"He also held three absolute Guinness World Records, including for the number of aircraft carrier deck landings and types of aeroplane flown."

Captain Brown was born in Leith on January 21, was educated at Fettes College and the University of Edinburgh.