A journalist who spent 25 years with a daily newspaper and also worked in Africa has died aged 84.

Tony Troon served in a range of editorial posts at The Scotsman over the course of a quarter of a century – and was particularly known for his Scotsman Diary of the 1980s and early 1990s.

Tony, pictured, later left The Scotsman and became a freelance journalist, television critic and jazz columnist.

In 2005, he also joined Dundee daily The Courier as a columnist and his pieces appeared weekly for 10 years.

An obituary by The Courier states that “his take on life proved to be hugely popular with readers”.

Tony began his career as a cub reporter with a news agency in Dunfermline before he served his national service in Germany, where he worked on his shorthand which would benefit his career.

He joined the late Alloa Journal after being demobbed, followed two years later by the Daily Record, where he became a district reporter then a desk sub-editor.

Tony then worked for the Scottish Daily Express before moving to central Africa, where he became a sub-editor on The Rhodesia Herald and later a radio news reporter with the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation.

A move to Johannesburg followed, where he worked for Springbok Radio, before returning to Scotland to begin his association with The Scotsman.

Tony was married to Jackie Brierton, with whom he spent 40 years.