Former Kent editor and long-time Kent Messenger Group employee Robin Brazier has died, aged 69.

He began his career in journalism when he joined the Kentish Gazette in Canterbury in September 1953, following in the footsteps of his brother, who was a sports reporter.

In his early reporting days he covered entertainment, particularly The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, where among many others he met and made friends with Jane Asher and Joanna Lumley.

It was while Jane was at the Marlowe that Robin helped smuggle her then boyfriend, Beatle Paul McCartney, into the theatre so that he could watch her performance. It created headlines around the world.

In 1970 he became editor of the East Kent Mercury and moved to the town, where he became a member of Deal Rotary Club.

When the sea devastated Deal in January, 1978, he was part of the editorial team who brought out a special edition of eight pages, which sold more than 26,000 copies within three days.

In 1983 he left the Mercury to return to the Kentish Gazette, where he stayed as a sub-editor until retirement in 2002. He continued working part-time in the Canterbury office and for the past three years continued his job from home.

Malcolm Mitchell, fellow journalist and Robin’s successor as editor of the Mercury paid tribute, saying: “Robin was a talented all-round journalist who could turn his hand to almost every aspect of the profession. He will be much missed by his colleagues past and present.”

Former KMG managing editor Norman Smith said: “It has been a privilege to know him. Robin worked from home until a week before his death and his passing will leave a void, professionally and personally.”