Tributes have been paid to former Dorset Echo News Editor, Paul Thomas, who has died aged 65 after a long illness.

Mr Thomas was born in Bury in 1953 and attended Chesham Primary and Bury Grammar schools before his first job in 1969 as a reporter on the Bury Times where he started off doing birthdays and weddings.

In 1973 he joined the Bolton Evening News as a crime reporter before moving to Ireland in 1981 where he became a reporter on The Evening Herald in Dublin.

He then joined the Echo in 1985 and masterminded the paper's news coverage for the next 23 years.

Leading tributes to him was former Echo Editor, Mike Woods who said: "Paul was a larger than life character who you could never ignore. He was also an immensely likeable person who became a great friend.

"From a professional standpoint, he had an ability to get the heart of a news story into the paper and within deadline.

"He was able to spot the quirky human interest story that appealed to readers, but he never forgot the bread and butter everyday neighbourhood news and picture stories which every daily newspaper relies on."

David Hill, who was manager of Weymouth's Globe FC team at the time Mr Thomas was the club's president said: "He was one of the nicest, smartest and funniest men I have ever met.

"He just adored the club, turned out in all weathers to watch them play and was hugely respected within the local football scene.

"His death has been a great shock to all of us and we still can't believe he has gone. He will really be missed."

Another tribute to Mr Thomas came from former Weymouth and Portland Mayor Peter Rendall who said: "Paul was a person you could always talk to and know he would listen. He was a gentleman.

"Whenever I spoke to him it was man to man with no frills and he wasn't afraid to say he disagreed with you.

"People like him will always be sadly missed because he did a great service for our town and for our borough."

Former South Dorset MP Ian Bruce said: "I knew Paul very well and he and I always had an extremely frank and very useful relationship.

"He didn't take any spin from anyone and he certainly had a strong understanding of what Echo readers wanted to read rather than what politicians wanted to tell him.

"He was an old school journalist, hard and professional, and very importantly he made the Echo the forceful campaigning newspaper it was in those days. He will be sadly missed."

Another former mayor, Joy Stanley, said she was "so sad" to hear of Mr Thomas's death.

She added: "Paul could always be relied on to support a good community story and he had an incredible news sense.

"I knew that when he contacted me for a news item that it would appear as he said it would and in the best possible light regardless of the subject.

"He was a proper journalist, called a spade a spade and was a true no-nonsense professional. He will be greatly missed."

The funeral will be held this Monday at 2.30pm at Radcliffe (East Lancashire) Crematorium,

Bury.