One of the North East’s most accomplished masters of newspaper design, who died last year, is to be remembered each year in a regional roll of honour – the Tom Cordner North East Press Awards.

Tony Dumphy, the much-loved head of editorial production at the Evening Gazette in Middlesbrough, won the ‘Splash Award’ for front and back-page sub-editing last May for the third time.

He died, aged 53, in September, just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

The prize he made his own has now been named the Tony Dumphy Award, with sponsorship from the Gazette, and it will be presented for the first time at this year’s awards ceremony in May.

Tony’s widow, Barbara, said the family was “extremely touched” by the gesture.

Awards secretary Keith Seacroft said: “The awards organisers very much welcomed the Gazette’s proposal. We are sure it will be warmly appreciated and supported by the many colleagues, friends and admirers of Tony.”

Gazette editor Steve Dyson said: “Tony was the man who kept the production wheels running smoothly, ensuring the paper was always out on the streets in time for eager readers to buy.

“But he also had real news sense, a great eye for lay-out and unrivalled brilliance at headline writing.

“The Gazette Media Company is delighted to become the sponsor of this award as a memorial to his talent, which so many people in the industry will never forget.”

Tony spent 25 years on the Gazette, joining the editorial floor as a sub-editor in 1979.

His talent and tireless enthusiasm not only earned him the respect of his colleagues, but also brought promotion through the ranks, and he took up his final post in 1996. He was at the forefront of many a redesign – including the latest that saw the Gazette relaunch from a broadsheet to a compact newspaper in September.

The awards, now in their 24th year, began as a grass-roots tribute to the Hartlepool Mail’s news editor Tom Cordner who died young in 1976. Invitations for entries for the 2004 Awards, to be presented in Newcastle on May 14 this year, will be going out shortly.