A FORMER North Bromsgrove High School teacher whose songs were described as "quite brilliant" has lost his 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis.

Clifford T Ward, the singer-songwriter whose series of hits during the 1970s included Gaye, Up in the World, Home Thoughts From Abroad, and Lost Again, died on Tuesday, December 19, at Tenbury Community Hospital.

The 57-year-old father-of-four, who lived near Stockton-on-Teme, continued to write music right up until his death.

Stephen Baguse, a friend and secretary of the Clifford T Ward fan club, said he was an under-rated performer because he stuck with ballads when the popular music was funk.

He added: "He stuck with what he knew best, ballads about love and lost love, which meant his songs stopped getting anywhere in the charts, and that really is a shame as they were quite brilliant."