A former regional daily journalist has written a novel as a release from the “enforced realism” of working in newspapers.

Philip Booth’s ‘The Gorshin Miracle’ is described as a light-hearted thriller which explores the recent phenomena of ‘fake news’ and cyber crime.

Philip, pictured, was a sub-editor at the Lancashire Telegraph before being made redundant in 2014, and worked for the Bolton Evening News and Bury Times prior to that.

The book is set in Gorshin, a sealed-off new town commissioned by the government ostensibly as a social experiment and built close to Ely, in the Cambridgeshire Fens.

Philip, who is 59 and lives in north Manchester, said: “I had written short stories but, after losing my job, decided to enter semi-retirement and construct a novel inspired by the ‘fake news’ epidemic of recent years and a visit to the wonderful Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral.

“Writing fiction felt like a great release after the enforced realism of working in newspapers.”

The book is available in paperback and eBook, while articles on the novel’s themes are available on Philip’s website.