Tributes have been paid to former West Sussex County Times sports editor Basil Dawson, who has died aged 89.

Basil was in charge of the County Times sports pages for 24 years and was given a fond farewell when he retired in September 1982.

He was the paper’s first sports editor and was credited for developing the early sports pages into a modern in-depth section.

Born in Huddersfield in 1917, he began his journalism career as a reporter at the Yorkshire Post, before working as a freelance journalist in Manchester and Leeds and writing for the world’s most northerly newspaper, The Arctic News, while on duty in Norway during the Second World War.

Basil, (pictured), joined the County Times in August 1953 as a news reporter, and after moving to the sports desk he covered Horsham Football Club matches for 20 years, travelling thousands of miles with the team.

In his retirement, Basil was involved in the production of village magazine the Warnham Warbler.

David Briffett, former County Times editorial director, said: “Basil was a very faithful servant of the West Sussex County Times over many years and was known to many people for his outstanding stint as sports editor, being especially popular at Horsham Football Club whose matches he covered for numerous seasons.

“He was an old school journalist in every sense, undertaking huge workloads always with a cheerful smile and never shirking from any task that came his way.

“His coverage of local sport was very thorough, accurate and highly respected by readers. However, his role behind the scenes extended to many other areas.

“For a long time he acted as deputy to the editor, Alan Fassam, and took responsibility for the paper during his absences, whilst he was also responsible for compiling special advertisement features.

“There is no doubt that he contributed much to the paper’s success in the post war years and the County Times will be forever grateful to him.”

County Times associate editor Steve Payne worked with Basil on the sports desk in the early 1980s. He said: “Basil and I worked at the top of the Market Square office in a small room overlooking the Causeway.

“Apart from the photographers in the next room, we hardly saw anyone all day, but it was a joy working alongside such a true gentleman.

“I remember he never got flustered and always seemed to be in a happy mood.”