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Editor who took Miss World home dies aged 81

A former local press editor who once took Miss World home for tea has died aged 81.

Reg Cusdin was born in Hounslow in 1927 and spent most of his life in the Hounslow and Heston area after a spell with the RAF.

He started his journalism career as a teenaged cub reporter back in 1943 with the Richmond and Twickenham Times, earning just ten shillings a week.

Mr Cusdin found his journalistic feet early on, due in no small part to him discovering two editors in a row dead in their offices.

In 1951, he joined the Middlesex Chronicle after marrying his wife Joyce.

His daughter Linda told the Chronicle: “He never lost his taste for news.

“After he retired he’d still read any paper he could get his hands on and his ears would still prick up if he heard something he thought might make a good story.

“He loved working at the Chronicle. He moved up into the role of chief reporter and later edited the group of papers.

“It was very exciting when we were kids because he met lots of famous people – like Sophia Loren and Michael Caine. He even brought one of the Miss Worlds home for a cup of tea.

“He was lovely, kind man and always full of fun.”

Mr Cusdin stayed with the paper until 1972 after which he joined the Sunday Express and Sunday People.

He is survived by his three children Linda, Chris and Stephen, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His funeral was held yesterday in Heston.