A weekly newspaper turned purple to honour the memory of a stabbing victim on its patch.

The Romford Recorder paid tribute to Jodie Chesney after being the first paper to break the story of the 17-year-old’s death last Saturday.

People in Romford have since hung purple balloons and ribbons, as well as laying purple flowers, because it was her favourite colour.

A 20-year-old man has been accused of murdering Ms Chesney and was remanded in custody after appearing at the Old Bailey via videolink yesterday.

A 16-year-old boy is also accused of murder and is due before Barkingside Magistrates’ Court, while four others have been arrested in connection with her death.

Recorder editor Lindsay Jones told HTFP: “It’s the role of a good regional newspaper to represent the community and this tragedy clearly touched a nerve.

“We wanted to show our solidarity with our community who covered the borough in purple bows.

“That’s why, for the first time, we changed the colour of our masthead on the print edition, the website and our Facebook page.”

Reporter Liam Coleman added: “I just think that being the local newspaper it is a lovely gesture, and hopefully we can help spread the word more and get everywhere and anywhere turning purple in memory of Jodie and against knife crime.”