A retired bank worker has begun freelancing at a weekly newspaper after qualifying as a journalist aged 60.

Keith Spooner has been working for the Derbyshire Times, in Chesterfield, after completing a National Council for the Training of Journalists diploma in journalism at Sheffield College.

Keith, pictured left, worked for a bank for 40 years from leaving school, but had a long-held ambition of becoming a journalist.

He studied reporting, media law, public affairs, court reporting, video journalism and shorthand at the college, along with the optional photojournalism module.

Said Keith: “I have always wanted to be a reporter and I thought it would make a great second career after leaving the bank.

“The college course was ideal for me in that it didn’t take years to get my qualifications, just six months. It gave me a great grounding in journalism, from law to reporting, and the tutors were brilliant.”

“I have learnt so much at the Derbyshire Times. The staff have been incredibly helpful and I love going in each day in anticipation of what I shall be reporting. I now have enough confidence to start putting forward stories to the editor.”

Keith completed his course at the college’s new £8.8m centre for creative industries, based at its Hillsborough campus.