British middle-distance runner finished fourth in the 1964 Olympic 1500m final

Alan Simpson, one of Britain's top milers in the 1960s, has died.

The 84-year-old from Rotherham narrowly missed out on a medal in the 1964 Olympic 1500m final as he finished fourth behind winner Peter Snell of New Zealand, Josef Odložil of Czechoslovakia and John Davies of New Zealand.

Simpson set British records for 1500m, the mile and 2000m and won the British one mile title three times from 1963-65 in addition to winning the mile at the Inter-Counties four times.

He also ran for England at the International Cross Country Championships – the forerunner of the World Cross.

Outside the Olympics, he was runner-up in the 1966 Commonwealth Games behind Kip Keino of Kenya and placed fourth in the 1966 European 1500m final behind Bodo Tümmler, Michel Jazy and Harald Norpoth. A prolific racer, he was renowned for his superb sprint finish.

As was the norm at the time, Simpson worked full-time through his athletics career and sometimes hitch-hiked from Yorkshire to London to compete in the British capital.

His best times were 3:39.1 for 1500m, 3:55.7 for the mile, 5:08.0 for 2000m, 8:09.8 for 3000m, 8:43.0 for two miles and 13:30.4 for three miles.

In later years he was a long-time manager of Rotherham Sports Centre.