British author Richard Adams, who created the classic children’s novel Watership Down – has died at age 96.

His family says Adams “passed away peacefully” on Christmas Eve.

The Second World War veteran imagined Watership Down while telling bedtime stories and driving through the countryside – with his two young daughters.

The tale of a small group of rabbits searching for a new home – after their warren is destroyed – was rejected by six publishers.

The international best seller was later adapted for television and the stage and became an animated series.

Watership Down was published in 1972 – and has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide.