Porridge and Game of Thrones star Peter Vaughan dies aged 93

• Video report by ITV News Correspondent Rebecca Barry

Actor Peter Vaughan, best known for his roles in Porridge and Game Of Thrones, has died aged 93, his agent said.

The actor played Maester Aemon in the TV hit.

A statement from his agent Sally Long-Innes said: "This is to confirm that very sadly Peter Vaughan passed away at approximately 10.30 this morning. He died peacefully with his family around him."

Despite being in only three episodes of Porridge alongside Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, Vaughan made his mark as villain Harry "Grouty" Grout.

He was appearing in a play when he was asked to take on the role.

Peter Vaughan as Harry "Grouty" Grout in Porridge.

"I still get people saying 'Let you out, have they, Grouty?" the actor said more than 40 years later.

"I was in just three episodes and, of course, the feature film, so I have to thank the writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais for the fact I'm one of the characters people always remember when they talk about Porridge because Grouty is so prominent - even though I'm not there.

"Everybody's frightened to death of him, so they talked about him a lot and so it was a huge character but I didn't have to be there," he previously told the Sunday Post.

Tributes were paid on Twitter to the veteran actor. Blackadder star, Tony Robinson wrote: "I went on my first CND march with Peter Vaughan in 1959. An amazing actor. I'll never forget his performance in Our Friends in the North."

Owen Teale, who plays Ser Alliser Thorne in Game of Thrones, paid tribute to his "inspiring" former co-star, calling him a "gentle giant" and adding that he missed "him very much".

Mr Vaughan was nominated for a best actor Bafta in 1997 for his role as Felix Hutchinson in the BBC series that also starred Christopher Eccleston and Gina McKee.