Tributes have been paid to former regional press journalist Ken Loran, who died during a cruise to celebrate his wife's birthday.

Ken, who lived in Cheshire, died in hospital in Gibraltar after being taken ill on the two-week cruise in the Mediterranean. He was 72.

He began his career with a press agency in Urmston near Manchester, after service in the RAF, and worked for a number of publications, including the Bolton Evening News.

Ken, (right), later joined the Daily Telegraph, and was northern editor when production moved from Withy Grove, Manchester, to an out of town site at Trafford Park.

He also launched the Macclesfield Community News, a local free monthly free newspaper, with his journalist wife, Margaret, and business partners.

Former colleague John Williams, of Space Press News & Pictures, said: "Ken Loran was one of the kindest journalists anyone could be asked to work with and was a professional of the old school. He had a real understanding of people and how to get the best out of his staff.

"Under his editorship, he introduced weekly pages with the heading of Looks North in order to maintain the paper's northern flavour in the face of a more London-based bias as the result of modern hi-tech production methods.

"Reporters, feature writers and photographers roamed its circulation areas in the north of England and Scotland to find exclusive stories and pictures. They were even sent abroad with the military to the Falkland Islands, Germany, Hong Kong and Belize to file stories and pictures of regional interest."

During his retirement Ken wrote several books, including There was a Time, an account of his childhood growing up in Salford, and served for a spell as a Macclesfield councillor.

He leaves his wife and two children, Mark, who lives in Canada, a daughter, Heather, and seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.

A funeral service was due to be held today, on his wife's 70th birthday, at 12.30pm at Macclesfield Crematorium followed by interment at Alderley Edge Cemetery.