TRIBUTES have been made to a 'larger than life' former local MSP who has passed away at the age of 60.

Bruce McFee was a Renfrewshire councillor before becoming a West Scotland representative in Holyrood in 2003, at that time covering Port Glasgow, Kilmacolm and Quarrier's.

Current Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan worked for Mr McFee prior to becoming a parliamentarian and says he will be sadly missed.

He said: "I had the privilege of becoming the office manager for Bruce when I came back home in 2003.

"It was a learning experience I remember fondly and one that presented me with many laughs, worry and above all respect.

“Bruce was hard-working, focused, driven and a dedicated patriot to the restoration of Scottish independence.

"He had a wicked sense of humour and was always ready with a quip to either shatter or bolster an argument in equal measure."

Bruce served as a West of Scotland MSP between 2003-07 and was heavily involved in campaigns for IRH and Ferguson's.

Mr McMillan said: "He took the yard's then-plight to the European Parliament as the issues of procurement and state aid were prevalent in the awarding of vessels by the then-Labour/LibDem Scottish Executive."

Councillor Jim MacLeod campaigned regularly with Mr McFee and today described him as a 'formidable politician.'

He said: "Bruce was a very nice guy and very hard-working.

"He was a larger than life character.

"His business outwith politics was pest control and I once remember before I was elected councillor I knew two local residents who had an infestation in the attic and under the floorboards.

"When he was an elected MSP he put on his overalls, went up to their attic and under the floorboards to treat the problem.

"He just mucked in, that was the type of person he was. I don't know many MSPs that would have done that."

"I remember his wife Iris had put him on a diet and he used to like to go into Louis chippy in the Port for a sausage supper and bring it back to our house, before driving up the road.

"He was also known to leave chip pokes in his neighbour's bin to avoid detection."

Bruce's friend, SNP member Iain Ramsay, said he was a proud supporter of the Telegraph's campaign to stop cuts at Inverclyde Royal in 2004.

He joined shop stewards and then-MP David Cairns, along with MSPs Duncan McNeil and Trish Godman, in battling for local services.

Iain said: "He fought well for the hospital - we were all supporting it."

Away from politics Bruce had also run a greengrocer's business in Gourock.

Iain said: "He was a very popular person in the town as a businessman and shopkeeper.

"He was like a stand-up comedian - I think half the customers went into the shop to listen to the patter.

"He had such a bubbly personality.

"I was so shocked to hear he had died."

Bruce, who went on to become a councillor before standing down in 2012, was married with twins.

Tragically his son Marten, who had cerebral palsy, died in 2015 at the age of just four.

Bruce sadly suffered a stroke in 2019 and had needed full-time care since then.

He passed away at the Royal Alexandra Hospital on September 9.