The Cambridge Evening News is claiming a world exclusive by breaking the news of the death of Syd Barrett on its website.

The Evening News was tipped off about the death of the former Pink Floyd band member after its final edition had been printed.

But, after checking the tip-off was right, the website was uploaded with a picture and story, with a plug for the full story in the next day's paper.

Assistant news editor Jon Ball said: "Once we were sure of our facts we raced to be first with the news. The BBC followed us by at least half an hour."

Editor Murray Morse said: "This is a perfect example of how our website and newspaper work well together. This is by no means the first time we have broken stories using our website but once the story was picked up, we could see it racing across the world wide web.

"It shows that the old-fashioned values of breaking good exclusive stories work well on the internet, and we anticipate a sales lift from readers turning to the News for a two-page spread on one of Cambridge's most famous residents."

The website currently attracts more then 3m hits a month and was recently shortlisted in the EDF East of England regional press awards.

Meanwhile, in Exeter, the Express & Echo launched a pre-emptive strike by running this headline the day before the musician’s death:

It was about Sidmouth cricket captain Kevin Barrett’s success at the crease.