A weekly editor got more than he bargained for when he attended the retirement party of his predecessor at the newspaper.

New chief at the Herts Advertiser Matt Adams, left, will be plummeting to Earth later this month when he completes a charity skydive.

The 38-year-old was accosted by representatives from local hospice charity Grove House at a celebration party for former editor Noel Cantillon who left the paper in April after 36 years – 22 of them as editor.

Matt, who rather ominously is the 13th editor in the Advertiser's 153-year history, told HTFP: "It's the first time I've done something like this and I was sort of roped into it.

"But to be honest it's something I have always thought about doing so probably would have done it at some point anyway.

"The £400 target is the bare minimum and hopefully once I've actually done the jump our readers will donate.

"It's a charity that the paper has been involved with for many years and we run a weekly page about them."

Matt's tandem leap of faith takes place from 10,000ft on 19 July at Brackley Airfield, Northamptonshire.

Over £300 has already been pledged at his online fundraising page.