A former regional journalist who became a motorsport “media guru” has died aged 57.

Tributes have been paid to Mark Wilford, who served as deputy editor at the Buckingham Advertiser and later ran the sportsdesk at the Bucks Herald.

Mark, pictured, went on to specialise in sports media and was the public relations and communications manager for the World Rally Championship Promoter at the time of his death.

He had joined WRC Promoter in 2013 after 16 years managing Ford motorsport media services, specialising in the World Rally Championship.

Mark, known as ‘Wilf’ to colleagues, began his career at the Beverley Guardian and then moved to the Bridlington Free Press, where he first worked with his future wife Nicola Bell.

They moved south and Mark became deputy editor and sports editor at the Advertiser, later moving to take up the post of sports editor at the Herald.

Debbie Tweedie, who was his editor at the Herald and also worked with him in Bridlington, told the Banbury Guardian: “I worked with Mark during some challenging and changing times in newspapers. He was a talented journalist with a passion for sport who cared deeply about the role of local newspapers.

“He was a loyal and totally reliable member of my teams; it was a privilege to work with him and be his friend, a sentiment shared by everyone who ever worked alongside him.”

David Evans, senior staff writer with independent rally news site dirtfish.com, added: “Mark Wilford was somebody I’d known my entire time working in motorsport.

“Without question, he was the most upstanding, honest and decent person in our industry. And when I say our industry, I mean journalism. At his heart, Wilf was and always would be a journalist.”

In July, Mark and Nicola attended a reunion of the Banbury Guardian, where Nicola was deputy editor in the 1990s, and they met up with many former colleagues from old EMAP titles.

He died on 1 September at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital after contracting an infection during chemotherapy.

Mark’s funeral is taking place at All Saint’s Church, Middleton Cheney, at midday today, a date chosen by Nicola and daughters Kate and Annie to allow colleagues time to get home from Rally New Zealand.