Matthews, who retired from athletics in 2004, won a total of 13 Paralympic medals for Britain throughout his career, including eight golds between 1984 and 2004.

His first three gold medals came at the 1984 Stoke Mandeville/New York Games with victories in the men's B1 800 metres, 1500m and 5,000m.

Matthews, born with the degenerative eye condition retinitis pigmentosa which he inherited from his father and which led to him to begin to lose his sight at the age of 11. won his last gold medal at Sydney 2000 in the men's 10,000m T11 race.

The Briton also set 22 world records in a variety of disciplines including the 800m and the marathon and was also the first Paralympic athlete to be made a Member of the British Empire (MBE).  

Following his retirement from athletics, Matthews represented New Zealand after emigrating there in the early 2000s.

He competed for his new country in cycling at London 2012. 

Matthews had been diagnosed with a brain tumour last year. 

According to the Daily Telegraph, Matthews said running gave him "a sense of self-worth and self-value".

In a statement on their website, the British Paralympic Association (BPA) said: "The BPA are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Bob Matthews MBE and sends its sincere condolences to his family and friends.

"Bob will be fondly remembered for his contributions to Paralympic sport across the years and will be sadly missed."

British wheelchair racer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, an 11-time Paralympic champion, also paid tribute to Matthews.

"He was just a lovely guy," she said according to the Daily Telegraph.

"The kind of guy who, if you walked into a dining hall on a training camp, or at an event, you would gravitate towards.

"He was friendly, he had time for everyone, he would chat with the young athletes on the team.

"He’d be the first to say, ‘Well done'."