John Pugh, the former editor of the Liverpool Daily Post and later the Liverpool Echo, has died after suffering cancer, aged 79.

He started his career as a reporter on the Birkenhead News in 1945, later becoming a reporter for the Daily Post and Echo in Birkenhead.

John then rose through the ranks becoming a sub-editor, an assistant editor of the Post and deputy editor of the Echo.

In 1969, he was appointed editor of the Post, moving to the Echo as editor in 1977, a post he held until his retirement in 1982.

Friends and former colleagues were this week paying tribute.

Liverpool Daily Post editor Mark Thomas said: "John was my editor when I was a young reporter on the Liverpool Echo, and it was the mark of the man that he always had time for a friendly word for the most junior staff.

"I well remember him throwing a garden party at his home to celebrate after the newspaper had won an award, and his warmth and hospitality really shone through outside the office setting."

Walter Huntley, a former associate editor of the Daily Post, said: "He had the essential qualities of an editor, not only in a sharp news sense but in his ability to enthuse his staff to enable them to achieve standards of which they, themselves, did not realise they were capable. We were together many years in a close, working relationship which developed into a close family relationship."

John Griffith, Trinity Mirror managing director for North Wales and Cheshire, who also edited both the Daily Post and Liverpool Echo, said: "Whether in the office or in retirement on the golf course, John was a witty and knowledgeable man who was a pleasure to be with.

"He made a great contribution to both newspapers at a challenging time and he clearly cared deeply about them and about Merseyside."

John had seen a wealth of young talent bloom under his guidance, including John Sergeant and Robin Oakley, both of whom became political correspondents on TV, presenter and columnist Anne Robinson and Roger Alton, editor of The Observer.

A thanksgiving service will be held at St Mary’s Church, Upton, Wirral, on Friday at 11.45am. The family have requested no flowers, but donations may be made to Cancer Research.