OBSERVER Editor Mervyn Kay has retired after nearly 30 years in the hot seat.

His decision to take voluntary redundancy comes following the closure of the Accrington office and the centralising of production at the headquarters of MEN Weekly Newspapers in Manchester.

Mr Kay, 61, started his career on the Observer as a trainee reporter straight from school at the age of 19 in 1967

He spent most of the 1970s as a reporter on the Lancashire Evening Telegraph but was then head-hunted to return to the Observer as deputy editor in 1978 and was promoted to editor in June 1979.

During the past three decades he has seen major changes in newspaper production, from hot metal to today’s highy-computerised operation.

He said: "It’s hard to believe that the Internet and mobile phones had not been invented back then. I well remember almost provoking a strike by daring to touch a galley of type in the composing room.

"But whatever happens, the actual journalism - the buzz of getting big stories - will never change."

Mr Kay recalls his own biggest stories as being the murder of a sub-postmaster by the notorious Black Panther, the 2006 fire started by a jealous husband in which a mum and her three daughters died, and a randy vicar who got his organist pregnant.

There were also two separate murders in which people were convicted without the body ever being found.

When Mr Kay rejoined the Observer in 1979 it was independently owned by the Crossley family, selling out in 1989 to the Rochdale Observer group, now a part of MEN Media.

Mr Kay added: "I have had a tremendous career and I don’t regret one minute of it. At one stage I did consider aiming for Fleet Street but the time and opportunity went by and there is something uniquely satisfying about editing a local weekly newspaper and feeling part of the community

"I have worked with some very talented people, many of whom have gone on to greater things, and had some great fun along the way.

"In spite of all the current problems, I think there is still a future for local newspapers and I will remain an avid reader of the Observer. I am leaving with no regrets."

Mr Kay now plans to take the summer off - "I have never had more than two weeks off since I was 18" - to spend more time with his family and baby grandchild but hopes to then find another job to see him through to retirement age.

Remarkably, Mr Kay was only the fifth editor in the paper’s 132-year history, previous incumbents having served for 54, eight, 25 and 15 years.


* TAKING over from Mr Kay is Stuart Robertson, 33, former deputy editor of the Observer and current editor of sister title the Rossendale Free Press. He will now oversee both titles.

He said: "I wish Mervyn all the best in his retirement. He was an excellent editor of the Observer and will be a very hard act to follow.

"I will, however, do my utmost to maintain the title’s high standards and dedication to providing the people of Hyndburn with a first-class weekly newspaper."