PAUL Mortimer has taken over as the new Group Editor of the Richmond and Twickenham Times Series.

His appointment follows the retirement of Malcolm Richards, who had been in post for 27 years.

Fifty three year old Mr Mortimer was Editor of the Staffordshire Newsletter series. He said: "I am really looking forward to editing the Times newspapers. They are clearly a well-loved and well-established part of local life.

"The ethos of both the Times and the Newsletter is not dissimilar, embodying all you would expect from your local weekly. They are part of the community, reflecting all that is good and bad in its life, they are papers of record and they are a place where public organisations spending public money on public services are held to account.

"The Times has a long history and it is a privilege to be the latest custodian of this respected weekly paper. While clearly I arrive to continue the evolution of the Times, I will also ensure it retains its place as the community's leading newspaper."

Mr Mortimer began as a trainee reporter on the Staffordshire Advertiser in 1967 and during his career has worked for the Express and Star evening paper in Wolverhampton, the Birmingham Evening Mail and Thomson Newspapers series of weekly papers in the Midlands. He joined the Newsletter in 1991.

Prior to his move to Richmond, he was chairman of the Midland region of the Society of Editors, a member of Stafford's Chamber of Commerce and Industry's business policy committee and on the board of a body of business and local authority representatives responsible for managing government funding for economic regeneration.

His partner is an assistant headteacher in a high school and he has a 24-year-old daughter. His interests include mountain biking, mountaineering, poetry and art.