McLelland served in the Royal Artillery for two years as his national service commitment, before joining The Glasgow Herald in 1954 working as a sub-editor and leader writer.
McLelland was the head of the BBC Arabic service from 1971 to 1975 and played an important role in feeding the growing interest in Asian music and culture in Britain.
While McLelland was the controller of Radio 2, the station started broadcasting 24 hours a day.
He left the BBC in 1986 to become director-general of the Association of British Travel Agents in 1987.
McLelland married his wife Phillipa (nee Murphy), and they had three daughters and a son.