The death of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, announced on Saturday justbefore 6pm, left regional editors with a key decision to make.

Should they recall staff to the office there and then to produce an extraSunday edition to compete with national coverage, or put resources intoa special edition with extended coverage for Easter Monday?

Some went with the former, some with the latter – and Stoke-on-Trent’sseven-day-a-week set-up went for both options.

Martin Tideswell, head of news at The Sentinel, said the Sentinel Sundayhad given over pages one, two and three to the news.

He told Holdthefrontpage on Saturday night: “We have shunted all our newsback.

“We’ve got people working double and triple shifts and on Sunday hadstaff in first thing.

“We’ll be printing overnight with twelve pages at the front for Monday asa special tribute.”

He said The Sentinel would be breaking the news alongside the nationals – butalso had a responsibility to tackle regional angles and tributes, from TheRoyal British Legion and people she had met, as well as a range of picturearchive material.

Several thousand extra copies were due to be printed for the anticipateddemand on Sunday and Monday.

In Lincoln, a 40-page tribute with a 30,000 print run hit the streetsyesterday.

Editor Mike Sassi said on Saturday night: “We’ll be on sale alongsidetomorrow’s nationals. It will have the Lincolnshire Echo masthead and forma special tribute to the Queen Mother.

“It is probably the last time anything like this will ever happen and soimportant to get the mood right. She was one of the few royals people have alot of respect for.”

The Queen Mother was a frequent visitor to Lincolnshire asCommandant-in-Chief to the RAF Flying School at RAF Cranwell. She visitedRAF Scampton, near Lincoln, at least four times.

The death of the Queen Mother was announced as the last of the Ipswich Evening Star’sSaturday football special “Green ‘Un” papers were being published.

The Star’s editor Nigel Pickover then decided to reprint Saturday’s main paper, and 5,000 copies carried the news of the Queen Mother’s death.

The late special edition was on the streets by 7.50pm – just 90 mins after the official anouncement.

The Star’s Paul Geater said: “We had an eight-page supplement prepared, and produced it with a front page about the death and the supplement inside. It was distributed to our late-night outlets and our normal newsagents who sell the Green ‘Un on Sundays.”

On Saturday night Kevin Booth, editor of the Peterborough EveningTelegraph, was planning a 24-page special edition for the next morning.

He said: “It will be entirely devoted to the Queen Mother with no othernews and a strong emphasis on her links with this area, such as her visitsto the East of England showground.

“Our staff had left for the day so we had to recall everyone to theoffice.

“We don’t normally publish on a Sunday but will be printing at 12.30amtonight and our papers will go out on Sunday morning.”

Jon Grubb, deputy editor at the Nottingham Evening Post, said the paper’stribute edition would appear on Monday, when a 24-page stand alonesupplement would be on sale, produced by a team of journalists at work onSunday.

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