Joshua Rozenberg: "A very strong-minded judge"

His former clerk, Peter Post, said he died "peacefully" at the Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester in the early hours of Friday.

Known as "the people's judge" Lord Denning was regarded as one of the most popular law-makers when he retired in 1982 after 38 years on the bench.

The Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, led the tributes.

Lord Irvine: "A master of simple English"

He said: "The name Denning was a byword for the law itself. His judgments were models of simple English which ordinary people understood.

"He had huge intellect and reforming imagination in equal measures, and in court, he never failed to be an object lesson in judicial courtesy."

Tony Blair described him as "one of the great men of his age".

Lord Irvine: "A byword for the law itself"

"I remember appearing before him as a young lawyer," Mr Blair said in a statement.

"He was always the soul of courtesy, helping out young barristers or someone with a hopeless case - and sometime I was both."

BBC Legal Affairs Correspondent Joshua Rozenburg looks back at his extraordinary and controversial career

Lord Woolf, the present Master of the Rolls, described Lord Denning as a great judge, who held "special memories" for everyone involved in the law.

But he said he had two greater qualities, including an "extraordinary ability in his judgements to reflect the sense of justice of the public at large, in language they could understand".

Lord Donaldson: "He had amazing self-confidence"

Also, anyone who appeared in his court, "whether a litigant in person or an eminent QC, never left other than content that they had had a fair hearing".

Lord Donaldson, who succeeded Lord Denning as Master of the Rolls in 1982, said: "He was obviously a very great judge indeed, it was most stimulating to sit with him in court.

Lord Justice Woolf: Language the public could understand

"He had a total recall memory, and he was always looking to see whether the law could be improved, and had particular regard to those whom he regarded as the underdog.

"He was a very great communicator, and put forward his views in words which the ordinary man in the street could fully understand, and which the tabloid reporter could report."

Labour's former prime minister Lord Callaghan and ex-Tory MP Sir Robert Rhodes James both stressed Lord Denning's "common-sense".

For Lord Callaghan he was "a great figure in the law".

Historian Sir Robert, who served with Lord Denning on the Advisory Committee on Public Records, said his style "may have upset lawyers but gained him a devoted popular following".

Former Conservative prime minister Baroness Thatcher said: "He combined a love of liberty with a passion for justice. His life and work will provide inspiration for generations to come."

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Lester of Herne Hill, QC, believed Lord Denning defended "vulnerable and weak" people and gave "enlightened leadership" to the legal world.

Michael Mathews, representing 95,000 solicitors in England and Wales as president of the Law Society, added: "He was a towering figure in the law, who made an enormous contribution to our system of justice.