Former Tamworth Herald sports editor Bob Paterson has died suddenly at home.

Bob, (52), was one of the best known faces on the local sports scene and covered many of Tamworth FC and the then Atherstone Town's famous highs and lows in the early 1970s.

He went on to work for Tamworth FC itself and later held senior positions with the Herald's sister papers in Sutton Coldfield and Walsall, becoming editor of the Walsall Advertiser.

Most recently he worked in the Nuneaton area covering both news and sport and was well-known at Nuneaton Borough.

He had been due to change direction shortly and looked set to take over a pub with his son later this year.

Bob kept in touch with many of his former colleagues in North Warwickshire and Tamworth and he also led the tributes when fellow former Herald sports journalist and former Adders chairman and lifelong friend Allan Bates died recently.

Herald editor Sam Holliday said that Bob Paterson was a "tremendous journalist and a personal inspiration".

He said: "I grew up reading Bob's wonderful sports copy and it made me really want to follow in his footsteps. He made football matches come alive and I know Herald readers loved his reports.

"He was also equally respected by his contacts throughout the local sporting world because they knew how much he loved his subject."

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