A budding young journalist with a bright future has died aged 24 just three days after being diagnosed with cancer.

Peter Fearn, left, from Derbyshire, completed a newspaper diploma at Nottingham Trent University in June and was looking for his first job as a reporter.

He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bowel cancer and died in a Derby hospital last week.

Dave Welford, newspaper lecturer at Nottingham Trent University, said: “Peter was a young man with a very bright future ahead of him.

“He worked hard and was a credit to the course. He received the highest mark for his NCTJ portfolio out of the entire cohort.

“But beyond that he was a really nice guy who always had a smile on his face.”

Peter had previously worked as a content writer for Associated Northcliffe Digital and had contributed stories to its sister newspapers the Derby Evening Telegraph and Nottingham Evening Post while on work experience.

Last month he had started suffering from diarrhoea but doctors thought it might have been an inflamed gall bladder.

His symptoms persisted and he was told last Monday he had an aggressive malignant tumour in his bowel which had spread to his liver. He was given weeks to live but died just three days later.

Peter’s father Trevor told the Evening Telegraph: “Never once was cancer suspected. No-one would expect cancer in someone so young.

“He started talking about his funeral and we thought ‘How can he be like that?’

“He was just so incredibly brave. He just lay there and asked if he could come home.”

Elaine Pritchard from Associated Northcliffe Digital said: “We all remember Peter fondly as a talented writer who always gave 100pc to any task and he was also an incredibly likeable and positive person to be around.”