Academic and anti-poverty campaigner Bob Holman has died aged 79 after a battle with motor neurone disease.

The respected community activist, author and social worker died on Wednesday morning, his local church said.

The Reverend of Easterhouse Baptist Church Sandy Weddell described Mr Holman as "a lovely man" who "transcended difference", adding: "People, regardless of political persuasion, all ended up really liking him."

Mr Weddell said his death "will be a great blow to the people of Easterhouse".

It was revealed Mr Holman was suffering from the degenerative disease in July 2015.

In 1976 Mr Holman resigned his professorship at Bath University in social administration to pursue a life of anti-poverty activism in line with his Christian socialist principles.

He moved to Easterhouse in Glasgow in the 1980s to continue his work.

In 1989 he co-founded Family Action in Rogerfield and Easterhouse (FARE), a charity with the aim of delivering services "to meet the social, emotional and physical needs of the community".

In 2012, Mr Holman turned down an MBE as part of the Queen's birthday honours list on the grounds the honours system was "designed to promote differences of status" and hindered equality.

A lifetime Labour voter, Mr Holman backed the party at the 2015 General Election but supported the Yes campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, saying afterwards: "I didn't vote for the SNP. I voted for independence."

Politicians have paid tribute to Mr Holman on social media, with Glasgow East MP Natalie McGarry describing him as "a stalwart of the local community".

Former MP in the area Margaret Curran described him as "a giant of social justice".

Prominent journalists, including Ruth Wishart and Times columnist Tim Montgomerie, have also paid tribute to Mr Holman.