Burnley Express journalist Barry Ayrton has died.
The 51-year-old, who had worked at the Express for the past eight years, suffered a heart attack.
Barry was well-known in the town for his weekly Straight Talking column, and had previously worked for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and the Keighley News.
Burnley Express editor Chris Daggett said: “He was a professional through and through.
“He was a journalist of the old school – a reporter who once he got his teeth into a story wouldn’t let go.
“He called a spade a spade and in many ways was an archetypal Yorkshireman – blunt and straight to the point.
“There were no airs and graces about Barry, he said what he thought and wrote what he said.
“Journalism has lost a great character and a true gentleman.”
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