A journalist who helped launch a regional daily and served its publisher for 63 years has died aged 81.

Tributes have been paid to Shirley Tart, who spent her entire career with the Midland News Association.

Shirley, pictured, was among the founding staff for the Shropshire Star – serving as the newspaper’s first women’s editor in 1964 – and later held roles including MNA royal correspondent and associated editor of the Shropshire Magazine.

She received the MBE for services to journalism in 2005 and continued working until her retirement in 2020.

Star editor Martin Wright said: “Shirley was a remarkable journalist who enjoyed an extraordinary career.

“To have worked in the industry for more than 60 years is an achievement in itself, but to have retained such enthusiasm and passion for the industry throughout is what really set Shirley apart.

“To have worked alongside Shirley for nearly 10 years was a real privilege. Shirley also worked tirelessly for good causes, and in particular for Hope House Children’s Hospice.

“She will be sorely missed by everyone at the Midland News Association and by many, many people in the wider community.”

Shropshire-born Shirley began her career on the Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News in August 1957, aged 16.

She later moved to the Wolverhampton Express & Star, where she initially covered undefended cases at Birmingham Divorce Courts and later had a brief spell working in Stourbridge.

Shirley, who died on Christmas Day, helped to launch the Shropshire Star in 1964 and would remain its women’s editor for the next 30 years.

In 1994, she was appointed assistant editor of the Express & Star, later returning to Shropshire to work on the magazine.

Anna Turner, Lord Lieutenant for Shropshire, told the Star: “She had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Royal Family. She will have forgotten more about the Royal Family than I will ever remember. She was so kind.

“I shall miss her support and advice a lot. She was just so generous with her advice, and she had a great sense of humour.”