Former Maidstone United chairman Jim Thompson has died at the age of 75.

Mr Thompson, from Otham, died at the Heart of Kent Hospice, Aylesford, on Friday morning. He had been suffering from cancer.

Mr Thompson, who was a former managing director of the Kent Messenger Group, leaves a wife, Katie, and a son, Rod, and daughter, Fiona.

Former KM editor Peter Edwards said: "Jim was my managing director when I was KM Editor in the 1970s.

"He was a very talented advertising guru who, deep down, I felt, had always wished he had been a journalist. He was quick of mind, decisive in everything he did but did not suffer fools gladly.

"Under a tough, uncompromising exterior, there was a soft centre and I always found Jim to be a most kind and generous man with a well developed sense of humour and an ability to make friends quickly.

"His work with non-league clubs in getting the Football League to accept the pyramid system of football promotion and relegation deserved more recognition than it received.

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Click here to read our Friday Interview with Jim Thompson from last February.