The picture editor of an evening paper was in the right place at the right time to provide his paper with a page one picture exclusive.

Richard Rollon, of the Bolton Evening News, who always carries a compact camera, was in the town centre when fighting broke out at two different locations.

As a crowd of young people spilled into the street a youth running across the road was hit by a police car and killed.

Richard managed to get a picture of the scene and alert the newsdesk, giving the paper a head start on its rivals.

The powerful front page resulted in a week on week sales increase of 1,412 copies (4.9 per cent) and a year on year increase of 2,159 (7.7 per cent).

Editor Steve Hughes said: “Thanks to Richard’s professionalism we got an early start on a major story which gave us our best Saturday sale of the year.

“I’m thinking of giving him more time off just to wander around with his camera.”

It is the second time this year that Richard has provided an eye-catching picture on his day off.

In the summer he was walking at a local beauty spot when he spotted youngsters in school uniform risking their lives by jumping into a water-filled disused quarry as they celebrated the start of the holidays.

His pictures on that occasion provided another page one lead and more pictures for page three.

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