Tributes have been paid to Edna Hadwin, the wife of a former Oxford Mail assistant editor.

Mrs Hadwin, 74, was the wife of Arnold Hadwin, who worked for the Mail between 1955 and 1963.

Mrs Hadwin, ne Spence, died in Lincoln County Hospital on February 18 of pneumonia, following a short illness.

She was born in Weardale, Co Durham, in 1929. She met Mr Hadwin, who was also from Co Durham when his Scout group reluctantly invited her guides' company to a Christmas social.

Mrs Hadwin supported her husband while he was a student at Oxford University's Oriel College by book-keeping for local businesses.

Peter Sykes, former Oxford Times editor, was news editor of the Oxford Mail when Mr and Mrs Hadwin lived in the area.

He said: "Edna was a typical jolly Geordie. I came to Oxford in 1956, and being young newly weds together, my wife and I used to hang out with Arnold and Edna. They rented a house on Cowley Road, near The Regal and had parties. She was a good hostess."

Mrs Hadwin leaves her husband and daughters Julie and Sara, who also went on to be a journalist, son-in-law Peter Gould and grandchildren Ellen and Jamie.