Neil Dryburgh, the former Ayr Advertiser reporter and longest serving freelance journalist in Ayrshire, has died. He was 75.

Neil, who was originally from Greenlaw in the Borders, also wrote for the Sunday Post, the Daily Express in Glasgow and the Ayrshire Post.

Former Ayrshire journalist and close friend Bob Blane paid tribute to Neil.

He said: “Neil had an engaging manner and an empathy with people, often in distressing circumstances.

“Newspaper work took Neil from Edinburgh to Glasgow and he moved again, in the late 1950s, to Ayr to work as a reporter on the Ayr Advertiser. He was later to become the town and district freelance and became the longest serving journalist.

“In his adopted town of Ayr, Neil had many interests and made many friends, among them Westminster MPs Jim Sillars, Davie Lambie and George Foulkes.

“His popularity as a newspaperman and as a warm, human person was clear from the large presence attending his funeral at Masonhill Crematorium on Monday.”

Neil leaves his wife Kate, their sons Nicky and Rory and four grandchildren.

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