Bolton quiz king Mike Holt has died in hospital following a short illness, at the age of 83.

Mr Holt established the Bolton Quiz League in 1986 and was its first chairman, playing for the Royal Oak team at Bradshaw.

An extremely bright boy, he won a scholarship to Bolton School and afterwards worked for the GPO as a telephone engineer.

At the age of 21, he married Carol, with whom he had three children, Debra, Chris and Lisa. The family lived in Westwood Road, Heaton.

Mr Holt went on to work for IBM, when it was in its infancy, and became a senior manager there.

In 1987 he moved to Borgue in Scotland to run a bed and breakfast business.

He remained highly active in the local community and was a school governor and a parish councillor

Mr Holt retired at the age of 53 and, following a divorce, married his second wife, Jeannie, with whom he had a daughter, Aimee.

In time, he became a grandfather to ten and a great-grandfather to two.

Daughter Debra said: “Even though he lived in Scotland for many years, dad was a die-hard Boltonian.

“He stayed in contact with his Bolton Quiz League friends and attended the league’s 20th anniversary celebrations.”

She added: “He was a quick-witted, highly intelligent man, and a warm-hearted, kind and very loving dad”.

His funeral will be held at Gatehouse and Borgue Parish Church, Dumfries and Galloway, on August 7.