FORMER Kent newspaper and radio journalist Peter Mastin has died at the age of 64.

Mr Mastin worked at the Kent Messenger Group's Sittingbourne office for several years and was a well-known figure around the town.

He ran The George public house in the nearby village of Newington from 1979–88.

His late wife, Rosemary, died aged 57 in 2002 after a short illness. The couple, who lived in Park Road, Sittingbourne, were married 32 years.

Mr Mastin didn't returned to work after her death. He later lived with his new partner, Marlene Gilham, in Woodside Gardens in Sittingbourne.

Funeral arrangements

The funeral will be held on Thursday, April 17, at The Garden of England Crematorium, Bobbing, at 2pm. All are welcome. Flowers are welcome at the funeral and donations should go to Demelza House children's hospice.

David Jones, the Kent Messenger Group's community editor in Medway, said: "Peter was a man of many talents and an extremely nice guy.

"I know that he had various jobs during his career and I recall in the early days that he worked on Radio Medway, later to become Radio Kent. He was superb on radio.

"Later in his career, for some reason I can’t recall now, he was working temporarily as a taxi driver outside Sittingbourne railway station. Peter called me to ask if there were any vacancies on what was then the KM Group’s evening paper, the Evening Post.

"I interviewed him in the public bar of The Fountain pub just across the road from the station. Giving him a job was a decision I never regretted.

"He was as good a newspaper reporter as he was a radio reporter. He was especially good at writing features."

Stuart Somers, now a reporter at the Sheerness Times Guardian, said: "I fondly remember Peter when we worked together at the Sittingbourne office for several years. He was a journalist of the old school who loved picking up stories in pubs. He often enjoyed doing the Daily Telegraph crossword with a pint of Guinness."

Mr Mastin was also formerly a news and current affairs producer at the BBC in London and his hobbies included gardening.

He leaves a son, Simon, and daughter, Helen, as well as Marlene’s daughter, Clare, and five grandchildren.