Author Colin Dexter, the creator of Inspector Morse, is to be awarded the freedom of the city of Oxford.

The 70-year-old novelist, who lives in Oxford, is to be given the award for "enhancing the profile of our city internationally", a spokesman for the city council said.

Mr Dexter has written 14 Morse novels, which spawned 33 television films, set mostly in and around Oxford where almost 80 fictional deaths occurred.

The writer will be presented with the honour at a ceremony in the city on 26 February.

Inspector Morse was the first crime series to be set in Oxford.

Heart-attack

The final Inspector Morse episode, The Remorseful Day, starring actor John Thaw, was shown on ITV at the end of last year.

Twelve million people watched the detective suffer a fatal heart-attack.

Previous recipients of the freedom of Oxford include former South African president Nelson Mandela and Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A former teacher, Mr Dexter took up detective novel writing during a rain-swept holiday in north Wales.

Since bringing the curtain down on Morse novels, he has said he plans to write a book about falling educational standards and devote more time to gardening.