Warrington's Pete Postlethwaite has died

Warrington born actor Pete Postlethwaite has died.

The 64 year old had been battling cancer and passed away in hospital in Shropshire.

The actor is survived by his wife and two children. Postlethwaite was once described by director Steven Spielberg, who he worked with in films including The Lost World: Jurassic Park, as "the best actor in the world".

In 1993 he earned an Oscar nomination for In the Name of The Father alongside Daniel Day Lewis.

His other films include Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects, Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet - and more recently - the summer blockbuster Inception.

Postlethwaite said of Brassed Off: "The moment I saw the script for Brassed Off, there was no question. I knew that I had to do it. It was about everything that I believed in. I just wanted to know when we were going to start filming."