A former Cornwall councillor who found himself at the centre of a national news storm after saying disabled children should be "put down" has died.

Collin Brewer found himself at the centre of not one, but two media storms over claims he made “outrageous and grossly insensitive" statements about disabled children.

Mr Brewer, who was in his 60's, initially stood down from Cornwall Council in February 2013. After he was re-elected in May 2013, he formally resigned as the member for the Wadebridge East electoral division in July.

Cornwall Council had found that Mr Brewer's comments were a serious breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Mr Brewer made a formal apology and said that some of the comment had been taken out of context.

The storm over his comments also saw four Cornish disability charities joining forces to say he was not fit to hold office.

His death has seen the deputy leader of Cornwall Council, Jeremy Rowe, call for people to remember Mr Brewer for his hard work over the past years, not just his recent comments.

He told the BBC: "A lot of people will remember Collin because of what happened in the past year, but remember him for the 27 years of good hard work he put in for his area.

"He was highly regarded in Wadebridge and the surrounding area."

The cause of Mr Brewer's death is not known.