A journalist who was a regional daily’s youngest sub-editor and later interviewed John Lennon has died aged 78.

Ken Seymour, left, began his career at the Hastings Observer aged 15 and went on to work in Canada and New York.

From the Observer, which he joined in the 1950s, he went on to the then Brighton Evening Argus, where he became a sub aged 18.

Ken also worked for three years for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Montreal, and interviewed John Lennon and Yoko Ono in New York.

From 1971 to 1981, he edited, reported and produced for Day by Day, the Southampton-based news magazine programme of Southern Independent Television.

From 1981 to 1986, he was head of news at Plymouth-based TV station, Television South West.

Ken’s sister Delia Spears said: “During this time, Ken won 21 national and international awards for his documentaries and current affairs programmes, including several gold medals at the New York international Film Festival, the Royal Television Society award for the best regional programme of the year on TV, and an Emmy Nomination for the Best International Documentary.

Ken also spent four years as a freelance journalist for national daily and Sunday newspapers from 1986 to 1990.

In his later years he was press officer for Plymouth University, and lived in Saltash, Cornwall, but had more recently lived in Portsmouth.

He leaves three children, Ginny, Judi and Kevin, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Ken’s funeral will be held at the Portchester Crematorium, in Fareham, Hampshire, at 12pm on 10 August.