A sports journalist has died aged 69 a fortnight after writing his final regional daily column.

Tributes have been paid to former Plymouth Herald chief sports writer Bill Richards, left, who left full-time work with the newspaper in 2015.

Until this month, he had continued to write a sports column called ‘King Billy’ for the Herald.

Bill had several spells with the Herald, and also worked for Sky in London.

Bill Martin, former Herald editor and now editor in chief of Trinity Mirror titles in the South West, said: “Bill was the sort of journalist every editor would dream having on the staff. He was tireless, committed, loyal, and passionate about the stories and the people he wrote about.

“Because he knew everyone, and everyone knew him, he was always ahead of the story, and had the precious ability to tackle even the most difficult story with tact, and empathy.

“He was also a good friend, a father figure to many of the Herald’s young journalists and had a sense of humour that we all still miss.”

A Plymouth native, Bill’s first job was as a dockyard engineering apprentice before he moved to London to work as a telegraphist.

He went on to hold various jobs as a telex operator, which included a spell working for the BBC at Broadcasting House, and later joined the Extel news agency before starting work at the Herald for the first time – heading up the copytaking desk at its former New George Street office.

Bill then moved to the sports desk before going back to London to work for Sky’s sports text service – a move he would repeat again after a second spell in Plymouth.

He settled with a third spell at the Herald, spending 10 years on the sports desk before leaving for the final time.

Bill, who died after a short illness, had been married to Helen for 35 years and is also survived by their children Liam, 34, Jack,32, and Laura, 23.

He was also the grandfather to Arlo, who is three, and 18-month-old Lola.

Current Herald editor Paul Burton said: “I only worked with Bill for a relatively short time, but his good nature and the sheer expanse of his sport writing was a joy.

“He was a one-off and a true gent, a great talent in regional newspapers and those qualities and his passion for journalism continued to burn brightly in the column he carried on writing in retirement. He will be greatly missed.”