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Death of columnist and former editor

Former Lichifeld Mercury editor and Tamworth Herald journalist Bill Jones has died.

The 64-year-old had also worked for the Birmingham Evening Mail and run his own PR business, Charlton Associates, after first working as a teacher.

He first joined the Tamworth Herald as a trainee reporter in the early 1960s, initially specialising in sport and entertainment reporting, and often spoke of how he once reviewed The Beatles’ 1963 performance in Tamworth… confidently predicting ‘they will never make it!’

Bill later became sports editor and then deputy editor of the Herald before being appointed editor of sister title the Lichfield Mercury.

In 1986 he set up PR firm Charlton Associates with business partner Sue Pipe, and returned to the Tamworth Herald last year as a weekly columnist.

Current Herald editor Gary Phelps said: “Bill was a mentor, a confidant and a friend.

“Tamworth coursed through his veins, as did the art of journalism.

“His passing is a great loss to both the Herald and the town he loved so dearly. Bill was, quite simply, irreplaceable.”