A memorial service is set to be held next week for a former regional press journalist who died earlier this year.

Sheila Robson, who worked at the Spalding Guardian and the Lincolnshire Free Press for 30 years, died in March at the age of 91.

Her lifetime’s commitment to journalism earned Sheila an MBE in November 1994, a year after she retired from the papers at the age of 70, which was presented by Prince Charles.

A memorial service will take place on 31 July in Spalding for Sheila, where her friends from the area can pay their respects.

This follows on from a funeral in Harrogate earlier this year, where she had moved about five years ago to live near her youngest daughter Fiona.

Sheila’s father was a London editor for DC Thomson’s newspapers and she followed him into the profession, working in his office and mainly covering court cases.

She met her future husband Paul, an army officer, and they married at the end of the Second World War, moving to South Holland in Lincolnshire so he could pursue a career in horticulture.

Sheila then joined the Lincolnshire newspapers and won numerous awards for her journalism, becoming a household name in Spalding.

The memorial service will be held on 31 July at noon at St Mary and St Nicolas Parish Church in Spalding.