Deric Walker, deputy editor of the Sunderland Echo, has retired after 35 years with the paper.

Deric joined the Echo as a trainee reporter after leaving school, and after qualifying he moved from a district office to the paper’s head office, then at Bridge Street.

When the head office was moved to its current home at Pennywell during the 1970s Deric became chief reporter at the city office.

In 1981 he became assistant editor of the Echo, and was later appointed managing editor.

In 1993 he became deputy editor and has since served under three editors – Andy Hughes, the late Ian Holland, and the Echo’s current editor, Andrew Smith.

Andrew said: “It is with great regret that we say goodbye to Deric after a recent spell of ill health from which, thankfully, he has made an excellent recovery.

“It is rare in the nomadic world of journalism for somebody to serve one paper throughout their career, but it was to the Echo’s gain that Deric committed his talent and knowledge to his local paper.

“Deric is a journalist of the highest calibre and he will be missed by all at the Echo and many in the community the paper serves.”

Paul Larkin, who has worked for the Echo for 10 years, most recently as assistant editor, succeeds him as deputy editor.