Long-serving Northern Echo photographer Mike Gibb has retired.

The 60-year-old had spent 34 years at the paper, the last 20 of which were as chief photographer.

He began working in newspapers after first serving as a fireman in Liverpool, and joined the picture desk at the Bootle News before moving to the Echo.

Editor Peter Barron said: “The paper has always had a reputation for strong pictures and Mike has been integral to that.

“He’s going to be a huge miss. He’s been part of the region and the Echo for more than three decades.”

During his time at the Echo, Mike has covered a huge variety of events, from royal visits to sport.

Peter also remembers sending him out to get a picture of the wreckage after a light aircraft which crashed in the Lake District one Sunday – a job which he said demonstrated Mike’s determined attitude.

The pilot had been on his way from Newcastle to Carlisle to go to his favourite chip shop when he crashed on a mountain.

Mike went in search of the wreckage – but had to lug his photographic equipment up three mountains before he found it.

Peter, who was then the Echo’s news editor, said: “He was the only one to get a picture – no one else found the wreckage.

“He has always had a real willingness to get the picture and is an example to us all.

“It was a real ‘Eureka!’ moment when he found it.”

Mike now plans to work as a freelance. His successor at the Echo is Richard Doughty.