A journalist who edited his hometown newspaper at the age of just 22 has died.

Tributes have been paid to David Stacey, who served as editor of the now-defunct Burton Chronicle and also worked for daily papers the Burton Mail and Derby Telegraph during a career spanning half a century.

David, left, who was 91, was born in Burton upon Trent and joined the Chronicle as a cub reporter in 1945.

He was taken ill a few weeks ago and died from liver and bowel cancer at his home in Burton last month.

Following National Service with the Royal Army Medical Corps, where he edited the camp newspaper, David joined the Telegraph in 1951.

He left to take up the reins at the Chronicle, which would later be taken over by the Mail, but then returned to the Telegraph at its former district office in Burton.

David spent 30 years there before the office was closed in the 1990s, at which point he joined the Mail.

He retired in 1995 but continued to write theatre reviews and compile the paper’s ‘Mail Remembers’ pages.

Anton Rippon, who worked with him for 10 years at the Burton office, said: “Dave was a real one-off. A colourful, larger than life character who lit up every working hour.

“He was a legendary figure in Burton, riding his motorcycle to jobs. Everyone knew him.

“More than anything, though, he was a superb journalist whose knowledge of life in the town was second to none. There will never be another.”