The longest-serving employee at the Herald Express, in Torquay, chief photographer David Williams, cut a 75th birthday cake at a staff celebration of the paper’s landmark anniversary.

The party – which included a glass of bubbly for all – took place at the paper’s headquarters, Harmsworth House, Barton Hill Road.

The newspaper also hosted a unique lunch at the medieval Spanish Barn, Torre Abbey, to say thank you to the people who had supported it over the years.

The mayors of Torbay, Totnes, Newton Abbott, Bovey Tracey and Dartmouth joined the heads of the emergency services and many of the newspaper’s advertisers for the celebration.

Editor Brendan Hanrahan thanked the 120 guests for attending the lunch, and said it had been such a success that he was considering turning the event into an annual summer ball.

He said the values of the Herald Express were the same as when it first appeared in 1925 – to serve the community of South Devon.

Barry Cole, managing director of the Riviera Centre, thanked the newspaper and its management, and applauded the paper for the way it was campaigning for the area’s prosperity.

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