Noel Paul, the former chief officer of the Press Council, which became the Press Complaints Commission, has died aged 87.

He was a leading authority on press ethics and responsibility and played a leading role in developing the code of practice that newspaper journalists work by today.

He played a key role in developing the Press Council's declaration of the principle forbidding newspaper payments to witnesses and potential witnesses in criminal trials until the trials were over and barring payments for feature articles to criminals unless warranted by the public interest.

He was also behind the council's first full declaration of principle on privacy in 1976, asking the press to identify "a legitimate and proper public interest and not only a prurient or morbid curiosity".

Noel was born in Sussex, and entered journalism in 1932, joining the Press Association as a telephonist at 17.

He became news editor's secretary and then a PA reporter in London and Manchester.

After serving in the Army and RAF suring the war, he rose through the ranks of Home Counties Newspapers in Luton as reporter, sub-editor and group features editor before becoming editor of one of the group's titles.

He moved on to become features editor of the Liverpool Daily Post in 1958.

For seven years Paul was a member of the National Union of Journalists' national executive council, then joined the Press Council in 1964, becoming chief officer as secretary in 1968 and the director in 1976 until he retired in 1979. He was awarded the CBE in 1978.

In retirement he published two books, Self-Regulation of the Press (1982) and Principles for the Press (1985).

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