Retired diplomat and high-flying civil servant Sir Donald Maitland has died at the age of 88.

The onetime press secretary to '70s Prime Minister Edward Heath lived near Bradford on Avon and was involved in the life of a number of charities and groups in the Bath area.

The Scotsman ended his national public life as chairman of the now-defunct Health Education Authority (HEA), steering a campaign for greater awareness of Aids and HIV.

Sir Donald served in the Army in the Middle East, India and Burma, with his knowledge of Arabic leading him to the Foreign Office and a post in Iraq.

In 1960, he became deputy head of news at the Foreign Office and after a spell in Egypt returned to London in 1965 to head the FO's news operation.

Sir Donald, who was just 5ft 4in tall, had a tempestuous relationship with the new Labour government's Foreign Secretary, the volatile George Brown.

After one particular Brown eruption, he replied: "Secretary of State, you don't think somebody my size has got where I am by kow-towing to bully-boys, do you?"

Sir Donald was later appointed ambassador to Libya, which coincided with the rise to power of Colonel Gaddafi. During one meeting with the eccentric leader, an unflappable Sir Donald nonchalantly pushed away a pistol pointed at his stomach.

When Mr Heath won the 1970 election, he made Sir Donald his press secretary, and three years later Sir Donald moved to New York to be Britain's ambassador to the UN.

Two years later, with Labour back in power, he was in Brussels as ambassador to the then EEC. In 1979, he returned briefly to the Foreign Office, only to be promoted by Margaret Thatcher in 1980 to permanent secretary at the Department of Energy.

After his retirement in 1982, he became a government director of Britoil, deputy chairman of the Independent Broadcasting Authority and chairman of the Independent Commission on Worldwide Telecommunications Development.

A qualified pilot, he was made an OBE in 1960 and knighted in 1973. His leaves his widow Jean, a son and daughter, and two granddaughters.

He was a onetime pro-chancellor at the University of Bath. Vice- chancellor Professor Glynis Breakwell said: "Sir Donald brought energy, enthusiasm and an immense wealth of experience to any activity he undertook on our behalf. His international expertise was an immense asset to us."

He was closely involved with the city's Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases and was president of the Bath Institute for Rheumatic Diseases (BIRD) charity for 10 years.

Ali Taylor, executive director of BIRD, said he had been a "much-valued supporter".

"I didn't know him, but people who did said that, although he come across as a bit scary on first meeting him, he was a very astute, warm and thoughtful man."

His family will be organising a thanksgiving service on a date to be arranged.