A deputy editor is leaving his newspaper on a high after it helped secure the future of local library archives covering 1,500 years of history.

Ted Jeory will be joining the Sunday Express as a news reporter from next Wednesday after three years at the East London Advertiser, after freelancing at weekends for national title for four years.

Ted and his team led a four-month campaign to save Bancroft Library historical archives after Tower Hamlets Council announced plans to sell it off for £1.2m to Queen Mary College, part of the University of London.

The former accountant, 38, told HoldtheFrontPage: “I’m definitely leaving on a high after that success.

“It showed exactly what a good campaigning local newspaper in touch with its readers can achieve.

“We mobilised our readers and gathered over 4,000 signatures including around 1,300 on a Downing Street website petition.

“It’s been a truly brilliant three years here. I live on patch so will still be around and contributing I hope.”

The East London Advertiser’s campaign was backed by renowned poet and anti-racism campaigner Benjamin Zephaniah.

On a powerful front page in the latest edition, he said the campaign victory showed how “a local newspaper such as the East London Advertiser can connect and work for the good of the local people”.

Editor Malcolm Starbrook added: “It not only demonstrates the effectiveness of a local newspaper fighting to support the community it serves: but also illustrates how important a weapon it is in tackling problems that could blight any community.”