A former Fifeshire Advertiser journalist who spent 30 years reporting on some of the biggest news stories in Scotland has died at the age of 95.

Adam Borthwick began his journalism career on his home-town newspaper and went on to work for the Daily Mail and Daily Express in Aberdeen.

He took his first job on the Fifeshire Advertiser in 1928, where he met his wife, Bunty, and when he was called up in 1940 he served with the Intelligence Corps.

After his demob in 1946 he returned to newspapers, working on the Daily Mail in Aberdeen.

In 1949 he moved to the Daily Express, and during the next 26 years covered all of the big stories in the north-east, first as chief reporter and later as the paper's northern news editor.

Among the many stories which made national headlines during his time as bureau chief were the Aberdeen typhoid outbreak in 1964 and the murder of Mearns farmer Maxwell Garvie in 1968.

He retired in 1975.

Photographer Ron Taylor, who worked with Adam for 20 years, said: "He was an astute and honest man who got the job done and did it properly. Everyone who knew Adam hadn't a bad thing to say about him.

"Even the Queen Mother always had a good word for him on her many visits to the north."

Adam's daughter, Ann Bennett, said: "My father loved words and he believed that a story should be told as clearly as possible.

"He also liked to find a different slant on a story and would always try to get an unusual angle.

"He was a taskmaster and stood no nonsense both in his personal and professional life.

"He had high standards and expected all his cub reporters to adhere to them."

Adam is survived by his wife, three children and four grandchildren.