A photographer has celebrated 45 years with the same newspaper – and insisted he’s “not retiring yet”.

David Lowndes began working for the Peterborough Telegraph on 3 September 1973, when he was one of nine photographers on its books, and has remained there in a spell which has spanned 12 different editors.

David, pictured, has recalled his career at the Telegraph in a piece for the daily-turned-weekly – including the time footballer George Best told him to “sod off”.

The 65-year-old also covered the Fengate explosion, in Peterborough, which claimed the life of firefighter John Humphries after an explosives van delivering to a fireworks factory blew up.

Discussing his career, David told the Telegraph: “Posh [Peterborough United Football Club] at Wembley has to be one of the highlights. The Johnstone’s Paint Trophy was the best one as the air was full of champagne.

“Tragic memorable moments include the Fengate explosion. When I arrived at Fengate I was driving a white Escort with a big radio aerial on the back of it and a reflective jacket on the windscreen so it was assumed I was a copper and they let me in.”

He added: “When I started we were using film and the cameras were completely manual. We didn’t have light meters or autofocus and everything you took was handprinted by yourself.

“I’ve been proud and privileged to have been at the front of every major event to have happened in Peterborough over the years, and I’m not retiring yet.”