Former Bath Chronicle sports reporter Bill Hawkins has died of cancer at the age of 91.

He was an avid sports fan whose enthusiasm inspired his only son Michael to follow in his footsteps as a correspondent for the paper.

He worked at Pitman Press, now Bath Press, in Lower Bristol Road, where he started as an engraver.

He went on to manage the shorthand department, devising a Pitmans shorthand dictionary and teaching many aspiring journalists shorthand.

Michael remembers his father used to cycle to Odd Down to file half-time football and rugby results for popular sporting papers the Pink ‘Un in Bath and the Green ‘Un in Bristol.

He carried on filing reports for Bath City FC as a pensioner until the ground was refurbished after a fire and he could no longer get up the steps to the press box.

Bill served in the Royal Signal regiment in Palestine and India during the Second World War, and was a specialist in Morse code.