A former regional daily sports journalist who went on to become a national snooker correspondent has died aged 82.

Tributes have been paid to John Dee, left, who covered Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club for the city’s daily the Express & Star.

John later went on to cover snooker for the Daily Telegraph, and once shared a house with legendary two-time world champion Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins.

Mark Williams, who has won the world title three times, has been among those to pay tribute to John.

He told World Snooker: “I met John when I first came on to the circuit and he was a great friend for many years. He was one of the big characters backstage and I always enjoyed sitting in the press room chatting.

“We had some very funny moments and the trips overseas were always more enjoyable when John was there. It’s a sad day for his family and all of the players who knew him.”

John was born in Gloucester, but lived for most of his life in Wednesbury, near Wolverhampton.

He completed national service with the RAF before starting his career in journalism at a variety of weekly newspapers in the West Midlands.

From there he went to the Express & Star in the 1960s, later moving on to the Telegraph.

Until shortly before his death, John was still writing about snooker and would visit Thailand each year to cover the Six Red World Championship.

John, who had three children and five granddaughters, died on Sunday after a short illness.