The death of TV game show host Richard Whiteley made front-page news in his home town of Bradford, as the Telegraph & Argus led the tributes to him.

The paper yesterday marked the unexpected death of the Bradford-born Countdown host and TV celebrity with a splash, a detailed obituary and a leader.

The T&A had enjoyed a long association with Richard, who for many years wrote a weekly column for the paper in which he gave wry observations of Yorkshire life.

He was also one of the main speakers at the T&A’s Bradford’s Best Millennium Community Awards in December 1999, where he delighted the audience with an amusing rendition of his career from journalist to game show host which, as always, was laced with his trademark self-deprecating humour.

About two years ago he also performed the official opening ceremony of the T&A’s branch office in Ilkley, also home to the Ilkley Gazette.

Richard, who was 61, was brought up in the area and had stayed local, living in a village between Bradford and Ilkley.

Richard began his journalism career on his student newspaper at Cambridge University before going into broadcasting.