TRIBUTES have been paid to a former Telegraph & Argus reporter following his death at the age of 69.

Chris Bye, described as “inspirational and imaginative” worked at the T&A in the 1970s, before joining the Yorkshire Evening Post, the paper he would go on to edit for more than a decade. He had a 29-year career in the regional press, before retiring early due to ill-health at the age of 46. 

Chris started out as a trainee reporter with the Harrogate-based Ackrill weekly newspaper group in 1970, before becoming deputy editor of the Wetherby News in 1972.

He then became a senior reporter on the Bradford Telegraph & Argus before joining the YEP as a 22-year-old reporter in 1974.

He also served as news editor of the Yorkshire Post and edited its colour magazine and served as its deputy editor from 1982 to 1987. He edited the Yorkshire Evening Post between September 1987 and January 1999.

During his time with the YEP, he struck a sponsorship deal with Leeds United Football Club, the team he supported, which saw the newspaper’s logo emblazoned on the players’ shirts during their 1991-92 title-winning season.

After retiring, Chris wrote classical music reviews for the British Music Society and autobiographical stories for Dalesman magazine.

He also worked as a freelance journalist for a number of national newspapers and was Great Britain’s correspondent for the South African Sunday Express.

Chris died on Monday, March 8, after a short cancer battle. A restricted funeral service will be held at All Saints’ Church in Bramham, near Wetherby, from 11am tomorrow followed at 12.20pm by a non-attended cremation at Stonefall Cemetery and Crematorium, in Harrogate.