Northern Echo editor Peter Barron announces on his

blog the arrival of new columnist Martin Lewis

, who has recently made a name for himself dispensing money-saving tips on GMTV.

I have to confess I initially thought he meant Martyn Lewis, the ex-BBC newsreader who fought back the tears as Tony Blair delivered his famous "People’s Princess" soundbite at the death of Diana, and sometime author of that ground-breaking journalistic tome Cats in the News.