A regional journalist who went on to run an international news agency has died aged 91.

Roy Mack served as chief reporter at the Hertfordshire Express before going on to national and global roles.

Roy, pictured, held the top reporting role at the Express between 1956 and 1962.

He then moved to Singapore, where he worked for the Ministry of Defence as a journalist and film cameraman, but returned to the UK after four years to become executive editor at international news agency Visnews, where he served as executive editor.

Barry Bremner, who worked as chief reporter for Express rival the Herts Pictorial, told his newspaper’s successor The Comet: “When I first met Roy in the 60s, he and I were very much in opposition as chief reporters on rival papers, but our news battles welded a great respect for each other.

“Since then, and particularly in our lunches together, that respect developed into a very close friendship and even during the lockdown we kept in touch and frequently chatted on the phone. I shall miss him very much.”

Judith Aylott, who joined the Herts Express in 1957 at the age of 16, added: “Roy was the chief reporter and I was very much the junior doing church calls, collecting bus parcels and making the tea, but Roy was always kind to me and from him I learned my trade.

“I spent my entire career with his wisdom ringing in my ears.”

Roy was working on weekly newspapers in Norfolk in 1952 when his weekly call to Sandringham meant he was “in the right place at the right time” to see the announcement of the death of King Geroge VI posted at the house gate, making him among the first journalists to know of the king’s passing.

Mike Palmer, another Express colleague, said: “Roy was a reporter of the old school and would never take no for an answer when chasing a story.

“If this meant hassling a colleague to keep investigating, then he was ruthless in that respect and we all knew that Roy would never let anything drop until he had got what he wanted.

“He was an outstanding journalist and a credit to his profession.”

Roy is survived by his brother Cyril, daughters Jennifer, Lesley, Sally and Josephine, eight grandchildren and a great-grandson.

His wife Sadie, with whom he lived in Hitchin, died in 1988, a year after he retired.

Lesley Mack said: “Since dad’s death we have been contacted by so many people who knew or came into contact with him. It is clear to us that he was much respected and loved and he will be sorely missed.

“It was dad’s wish that there should not be a funeral but the reaction to his passing has been such that we are now thinking of having a memorial service to which everyone will be invited.”