Business club members got a shock when they invited the new editor of their local paper to give them a talk – he took along most of the editorial team with him.

In his previous role as news editor of the Cambs Times, John Elworthy had twice been to March and District Probus Club to give talks.

When he was appointed editor earlier this month he decided to change his style of presentation for his third outing to the club.

So instead of giving the 50 club members a talk, he invited them to join the morning news conference – and handed round copies of the news list and got each journalist to explain the stories they were working on.

From planning disputes to wind turbines, to a missing person and the future of a local football club, and vandalism and a campaign for a roundabout, the news meeting gathered pace as club members joined in the discussion.

“Tuesday is a busy day for the Cambs Times news staff,” said John. “But I thought – and the team agreed – this was a great idea to meet a lot of local people and involve them in what we do.

“We dealt with some important local issues and I think club members were really pleased to meet the rest of the team.”

Joining the news meeting were reporters Louise Hughes, Tom Jackson and Adam Lazzari, and newsroom assistant Barbara Sutton.

Photographer Brian Purdy also joined in with the meeting – and took some photographs.

Club secretary Don Bradshaw said: “Excellent. Our members thoroughly enjoyed it and weren’t afraid to speak their minds either which was good.”