The former Conservative MP and arch Eurosceptic Sir Teddy Taylor has died, his family said.

He was 80.

Sir Teddy, who had been ill for some months, died in Southend Hospital late on Wednesday, his wife, Sheila Taylor said.

Mrs Taylor said that while he never changed his views on Europe, he had remained devoted to his constituency and its people.

"He loved being an MP here. The great love of his life was helping his constituents. He really cared about Southend and was very well-liked by everybody here," she said.

Scottish Tory leader, Ruth Davidson, said: "Very sorry to hear of the death of Teddy Taylor. A huge figure in the Scottish party and of the proper tenement Tory mould."

Southend Labour leader, Ian Gilbert, tweeted: "Sad to read Sir Teddy Taylor has passed away. Disagreed on many things but he was always warm, courteous and helpful to his constituents."

James Duddridge, current Tory MP for Rochford and Southend East - who took over from Sir Teddy in 2005, said: "Saddened to hear Sir Teddy Taylor passed away last night. He was a great man and a colossus of British politics. We will all miss you Teddy."

First entering Parliament as MP for Glasgow Cathcart in 1964, his political career was marked by a fierce loathing of the European Union.

He quit as a Scottish Office minister in 1971 over Edward Heath's decision to join what was then the Common Market.

Two decades later he was among a band of diehard Tory rebels - the so-called "whipless wonders"- who had the whip withdrawn and were kicked out of the party by John Major over their opposition to the Maastricht Treaty.

In 1979 he was elected MP for Southend East in a by-election, having finally lost marginal Glasgow Cathcart, and held the seat until he retired from Parliament in 2005.