Long-serving photographer George Bell, who captured life on camera for the Morpeth Herald for more than 25 years, has died.

Leading tributes to the popular 83-year-old was Castle Morpeth Mayor Milburn Douglas, who said: "George was a popular, well-known and respected member of the community, who was a familiar face at civic functions in Morpeth for the past 30 years or more."

He said George was still taking pictures up until his death, and most recently saw him at the Remembrance Day events in November.

The photographer was such a close part of the civic circuit that he even accompanied officials in the limousine to some out-of-town functions.

George initially trained as a teacher before serving in Italy and North Africa in the Second World War, returning home to teach in Leeds, Northumberland and then Newcastle.

He took up his role at the newspaper in 1969, retiring in the early 1980s.

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