Veteran journalist Gareth Hughes has retired after 33 years at the Daily Post in North Wales.

Gareth, (59), started his career at the Chester Chronicle before moving to the Denbighshire Free Press and then the Colwyn Bay Pioneer.

He joined the Daily Post in 1973 and has since become the paper’s longest-serving reporter.

Gareth, (right), told HoldtheFrontPage: “It’s come about quite sharpish really – I was planning to retire in March when I’m 60 and had been planning that for a long time but with all the Trinity cuts I volunteered for redundancy.

“It’s only my second day away, it just seems like a holiday really, it’s not hit me yet.”

He said some of the most important stories that he has covered during his career include the Towyn floods in 1990 and the notorious Peter Moore murders.

Gareth said: “Peter Moore actually still writes to me from his prison cell. I even got a phone call at home from him one Saturday morning at 8am which my wife wasn’t very happy about!”

Gareth said he feels proud to have served his Denbighshire patch and is planning to continue providing material for the Daily Post.

He said: “Nowadays things are a lot more flexible. For 28 years while I was here district reporters had very defined boundaries but nowadays more are based in head office.

“I feel great pride in my area and having been on call 24/7 over the years. I’ve worked all kinds of hours just because I’ve wanted to know what’s been going on in my patch.

“The redundancy pay has eased the pressure but I will keep my hand in.”

Gareth, whose son Roland also works for the Daily Post, is also looking forward to devoting more of his time to athletics in his retirement.

He said: “A big thing for me will be carrying on my road and cross-country running.

“I’m very much involved in the local athletics scene and I’m the vice-chairman of the North Wales Athletics Board. I should be able to get some consistent training in now.

“I’ve had some very nice e-mails and cards and I’m having a farewell do on Friday. There are 80-odd coming – it could have been a lot more but I’m subsidising the buffet!”

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