Former US President George HW Bush admitted to hospital in Houston

Oldest living former President, 92, suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease

Former President George HW Bush smiles listening to Mitt Romney speak in Houston in 2012 (Reuters)

Former US President George HW Bush has been admitted to hospital in Houston.

The 92-year-old was in a stable condition and "doing fine", his office chief of staff Jean Becker told CBS Houston.

The reason for Mr Bush's admission was not immediately made clear but he is expected to leave the Houston Methodist Hospital in a couple of days, Ms Becker said.

Mr Bush, the oldest living former President, suffers from a form of Parkinson's disease that leaves him unable to walk unaided and uses a wheelchair or scooter to get around.

Although the illness has not stopped him celebrating his birthdays with parachute jumps, most recently for his 90th. His first jump was escaping his plane when it was shot down over the Pacific during the Second World War.

Mr Bush served as 41st President of the US between 1989 and 1993, having been Vice President under Ronald Reagan.

Previously the Director of Central Intelligence in the wake of the Watergate scandal, he led America's intervention against Iraq in the Gulf War and failed efforts to end the Somali civil war.

The Republican's son, George W Bush, later took office in 2001.

Mr Bush Sr launched a scathing critique of his son's administration in a biography published in 2015, saying Dick Cheney had asserted too much "hard-line" influence alongside "real hard-charging guys who want to fight about everything, use force to get our way in the Middle East".

He was previously taken to hospital in July 2015 after breaking a bone in his neck while at his summer home in Maine.

Mr Bush was previously hospitalised twice in 2014 - once for seven weeks with pneumonia and again for breathing difficulties. Public appearances have been rare since he entered his 90s.