Young Writers Society

...BBC Creative Director Alan Yentob told the BBC: "He was a unique figure in British theatre. He has dominated the theatre scene since the 1950s."

Michael Billington, Pinter's friend and biographer, said he was "devastated and saddened" by the news.

He told the BBC: "Harold had been ill for a very long time, but he had a titanic will and one imagined he would go on fighting.

"He was a fighter in the field of politics, he fought strenuously against American and British foreign policy, but also in his work you see this, there is a combative spirit in his work.

"He was a generous and loyal man and very attached to the people whom he sincerely liked."

Also an actor, poet, screenwriter and director, Pinter was known for his left-wing political views and was an outspoken critic of US and UK foreign policy.

Veteran politician Tony Benn said Pinter was a great figure on the political scene.

"His death will leave a huge gap that will be felt by the whole political spectrum," he said.

Pinter won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 and the citation said "in his plays he uncovers the precipice in everyday prattle and forces entry into oppression's closed rooms".

He was awarded a CBE in 1966, later turned down a knighthood and became a Companion of Honour, an exclusive award in the gift of the Sovereign, in 2002.