Phil Dawes is celebrating a picture perfect 40 years with the Hull Daily Mail, and to mark the occasion a lunchtime party was held in the paper’s boardroom, attended by family and colleagues.

The event allowed Phil, the paper’s longest serving photographer, to look back on a career he began as a 15-year-old tea boy, as editor John Meehan – the sixth editor Phil has worked for – described him as “a great professional”.

Soon after joining the Mail, Phil began helping out in the darkroom – working on glass negatives – and since becoming a fully-fledged photographer he has covered many of the region’s major stories.

He has also photographed every member of the royal family to visit East Yorkshire in the past 40 years, including the Queen and Prince Philip, the Queen Mother and Prince Charles and Princess Diana.