"It's a bit like Alan Shearer going back to Newcastle - I'm going home too!"

These are the words of Middlesbrough Evening Gazette editor Paul Robertson, who will make the short trip north to Tyneside on May 25 to take up a new role.

He is taking over the reins of the Newcastle Chronicle from Alison Hastings at the end of the month, in the city where he started his newspaper career... as a delivery boy.

And after 16 years as a journalist, the 35-year-old, who learned his trade at Darlington Technical College, can't wait to tackle his new challenge.

Paul was born in Ashington, just outside the city, and is also Newcastle United season ticket holder. He currently lives 30 minutes away from the city, near Middlesbrough.

A true devotee of the North East, he has spent all his working life there, taking on his first role at the Morpeth Herald, a weekly newspaper in Northumberland.

After becoming a senior he moved to the Newcastle Journal in 1989 and quickly rose through ranks. His stay there included spells as head of content, sports editor and deputy editor.

In 1997, the draw of working at the Chronicle proved to strong to resist and he joined the paper as assistant editor.

He said: "I joined as the paper was switching to tabloid format which was great as I enjoyed being involved with that."

In April 2000, he was granted his first editorship, in nearby Middlesbrough, and although this meant leaving his beloved Newcastle it was too big an opportunity to turn down.

And two years on the time has come for him to return, this time in the top role - and it is a challenge he is relishing.

He said: "I am proud of the Gazette's achievements, which have been recognised with our nominations for three national awards.

"But I look forward to working with the Chronicle team to build on the excellent foundations which are in place."

The pride and importance of being a local man running the local paper is high on Paul's list of priorities for an editor, as he explained: "For some reason there is a reluctance for editors to want to go back to their home town and take on the local newspaper.

"I don't understand that and am completely the opposite. Being a Newcastle man will be a big help in my new role as I understand how Newcastle people think and the issues that matter to them - this can only benefit the Chronicle.

"The paper has an excellent reputation and I intend to maintain and build on that - I am just looking forward to the challenge of running my home town paper."

And he will, two days after his 36th birthday, not a bad present at all!

Do you have a story about the regional press? Ring 0116 227 3122/3121, or
e-mail pastill@nep.co.uk