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None of it diverted Peter. Not even the hefty mailbag he received every week bulging with fury and congratulation. He delighted in pushing the boundaries of acceptable behaviour both inside the column rule and outside the confines of newsprint. I never promise objectivity, he would say, only the basics of an argument delivered in an entertaining way. The rest is up to the reader.

His strategy certainly suited followers of Sentinel Sunday and, so too, the judges who awarded him the Regional Columnist of the year title soon after the newspaper’s launch in 2000. One said in commentary that he started off appalled by what Peter was saying, but ended up agreeing with him.

Away from the coal face of column writing he was a talented newspaper designer, displaying a precision in typography and layout that belied an otherwise totally disorganised nature which often infuriated colleagues. Ten minutes before deadline his comment could lay on a page, two paragraphs short of completion, while Peter was parading outside the office having a last cigarette, oblivious to print schedules.

It was an easily forgivable trait in someone who contributed so much, not just by his devastating pen and unswerving principle, but in total commitment to the birth and development of this newspaper and to the enjoyment and exasperation of thousands of readers of all Sentinel titles.

His writing will be greatly missed by readers, friend and foe alike. His wider journalism, as an assistant editor of Staffordshire Sentinel Newspapers, will be missed also by colleagues, only slightly less than the personal warmth, gentle humour and penetrating knowledge that made him such a joy to know.

Peter is survived by his mother, Betty, and brother Nick. His funeral was held in Middlesbrough.