A Scottish scientist who was central to the discovery of gravitational waves has died at the age of 85.

Professor Ronald Drever, from Bishopton, Renfrewshire, died in Edinburgh on Tuesday following a short but rapid deterioration of health.

His family published a short statement on Wednesday announcing his death, saying: "The family announce with great sadness the death of their much-loved uncle and brother, Professor Ronald W P Drever on Tuesday March 7, aged 85.

"He passed away peacefully in Edinburgh following a short, but rapid deterioration in his health.

"Ronald dedicated his lifetime to researching gravitational wave detection through LIGO and despite the fact dementia featured in his latter years, he was still aware of the global recognition that he and his colleagues at Caltech University in California and also the University of Glasgow had achieved.

"We are extremely proud of Ronald and his scientific achievements; he was unique and unconventional but very caring with a strong sense of humour. He will be sadly missed by us all."

Prof Drever excelled in mathematics and science, particularly physics, from a young age and graduated from the University of Glasgow with a BSc (Hons) in pure science before completing a PhD thesis at the institution.

The Scottish physicist co-founded the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the US which detected the first gravitational wave on September 14 2015.

In 2016, his contributions were recognised in the form of awards including The Special Breakthrough Prize, The Gruber Cosmology Prize and American Ingenuity Award for Physical Sciences.

During his career he was also inducted into the Royal Astronomical Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences and American Physical Society, who awarded him the Einstein Prize with Professor Rainer Weiss.