Former Bucks Free Press journalist and Midweek editor Bernard Edwards has died, a week after his 81st birthday.

Bernard started his life in print after serving in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

He worked at various Westcountry papers, including the Bath Chronicle, before moving to Amersham to start work as a reporter and deputy editor of the Buckinghamshire Advertiser.

He then joined the Bucks Free Press and took over from John How as editor of its sister paper, Midweek.

Working with a news editor and two reporters he ran a tight ship and Midweek stories were closely guarded from the rest of the office.

Always wanting to maintain a professional style, Bernard often worked weekends with his reporters and particularly remembered the unsolved murder case of Dr Helen Davidson, which began while he was at the Advertiser in the 1960s.

Midweek reopened investigations when a man was taken in for questioning, but later released.

Bernard and a reporter tracked the man down, were invited into his flat and then spent a terrifying two hours trapped while the man raved at them, and threatened to kill them if they used his story.

They managed to get out just as he went to lock them in. Bernard recalled it as “one of Midweek’s most dramatic stories”.

He also helped to save the home of a couple who ran a wildlife sanctuary, who were facing eviction from their landlord. Publicity led to their landlord selling the house to a new owner who gave them tenancy for life.

But Bernard always said his best story was his wedding to then Midweek and Free Press chief reporter Anne Ginger, who he met when he joined the paper.

Bernard retired at the age of 62 but returned to the Free Press to do occasional subbing and to write a monthly walking column.

He leaves his widow Anne, his two children from his first marriage, Jaqueline and Robin, three grandchildren, two step-children and five step-grandchildren.