The man who tried to sell the Cuillins for millions of pounds has died.

John MacLeod of MacLeod caused outrage when he put the iconic Skye mountain range on the market for £10m. MacLeod, the chief of the MacLeod clan, claimed he needed the money to renovate his crumbling seat Dunvegan Castle on the island.

He died in London at the age of 71. He had leukaemia. The 29th clan chief will be succeeded by his son Hugh Magnus.

MacLeod failed to find a buyer for the range, which includes the most difficult Munro to summit: Sgurr Dearg, the Inaccessible Pinnacle. The range offers one of the hardest traverses in Scotland.

MacLeod subsequently offered to transfer the Cuillins to public ownership and putting Dunvegan Castle, seat of the clan for 800 years, into trust, but the offer was rejected by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. A National Lottery application for £25m to restore the castle was also rejected.

MacLeod took the title of chief on the death of his grandmother Dame Flora MacLeod in 1976.