One of the first rules of journalism is to read the small ads in your own paper.

So when a Leicester Mercury features writer decided to take this rule on board, it came as no surprise to find him writing one cracking story after another.

Lee Marlow scoured the paper’s classified section for human interest stories with the aim of grouping them together for a feature.

He found some interesting-looking adverts and, after a few phone calls, had found six original stories.

Lee told HoldtheFrontPage: “I just gave the numbers a ring and when I spoke to the people, virtually all of them were happy to go straight into telling me their story.”

“I don’t know if it was my lucky day or something but everything seemed to fall into place.”

Among the stories was a former freemason who was looking to buy second-hand ceremonial equipment and a taxi driver selling his black cab after repeated beatings.

He also found two bus drivers from rival companies who fell in love and got married – the ad was selling the bride’s wedding dress.

Out of the six stories, Lee picked the best five and they were placed together on a double page spread with a clipping of the original advert alongside each story.

Lee explained: “It made a really nice feature in the end. It shows how its definitely worth looking through the small ads.

“It could be worth someone checking through the classified sections each day – it doesn’t take long at all.

“Or even getting a reporter to spend a couple of hours in the paper’s classified department to see what stories they can uncover.

“I found six cracking stories – and I didn’t even get to the births, deaths and marriages section!”

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