TRIBUTES have flooded in following the death of former Echo sports reporter Brian Copp.

Mr Copp, 80, from Weymouth, died following a short illness last week, surrounded by his family at Dorset County Hospital.

He leaves behind his wife of 55 years Beryl, his three children Linda, Joanna and David, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Passionate about local sport, Mr Copp first joined the Echo in the 1950s. He left to work on the Weymouth Southern Times and on the Western Morning News in Plymouth, but returned to the Echo in 1967 as a senior sports reporter, mainly covering athletics and his beloved Terras.

As well as football, Mr Copp was also an athletics enthusiast, a table tennis fan, a junior boxer, played skittles for 20 years and a keen gardener scooping many awards for his horticultural expertise.

He was involved with Weymouth table tennis for more than 50 years and held positions of chairman, and more recently, president of the Weymouth and District League.

His eldest daughter Linda said: “He has got loads and loads of trophies and medals for so many different things. He was a massive fan of gardening and his favourite thing was his roses.

“He covered everything he loved. He loved sport so being a sports reporter was perfect for him and I think because he did so much in the local sporting community, and put in a lot of time and effort, he was well loved.

“He was my special dad. We have only got happy memories of him, he was loved so much and he will be missed.”

Members of the local sporting community also paid tribute.

Ian Ridley, sports journalist and former Terras chairman, said reading Mr Copp’s match reports and stories about Weymouth Football Club ‘stoked his love of the Terras’.

He said: “He was unfailingly good natured but with the professional’s knowledge of the right questions to ask.

“He was a fine, old-fashioned newspaperman and the community was lucky to have him.

“My condolences to his family, who can be proud of a life well-lived at the heart of his town.”

Jan Henry, from St Paul’s Harriers, added: “Brian supported the club for many years.

“He always found time every year, despite failing health, to attend the club’s annual AGM.”

Weymouth and District Table Tennis League chairman Neil Hardisty said of Mr Copp: “During his time as chairman he was instrumental in persuading both the late Fred Legg and the manager of the old Mainstop store to generously sponsor the league and ensure its financial stability. The benefits of that are still being felt today.

“The present healthy state of table tennis in Weymouth is due in no small part to the years of service which Brian dedicated to the sport. There can be no more fitting tribute.”

Mr Copp’s funeral is at Weymouth Crematorium on Tuesday, February 3 at 2.30pm.