Tributes to 'legendary' Hartlepool-born newspaper editor described as 'one the last great municipal journalists'

David Bell from Hartlepool, described as a legend in both regional journalism and his local community, has died aged 77.

He occupied virtually every role in newspapers during his long career.

For more than 30 years he worked at the Birmingham Mail where he held councillors of all parties to account, exposing a catalogue of scandals, financial mismanagement, and other issues.

Yet he was widely respected by those same councillors for his fairness and accuracy.

David, who lived in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, worked on the paper, where he became municipal editor, from 1976 until stepping down in 2007.

A no-nonsense rumbustious character, he operated from two offices. During the first part of the morning, he worked in the Mail’s city centre base.

But he was also a regular face in his ‘other office’, the Old Joint Stock pub where a constant stream of councillors and contacts alike arrived to talk with him, offer tip-offs and generally chew the fat, sometimes queuing for their turn.

John Duckers, former business editor of the Birmingham Post, said: “He was a man of direct opinions and gruff asides but whose heart was in the right place.

“An old school journalist who loved nothing better than to dig out a tale who someone somewhere wanted buried.

“Both loveable and cantankerous, he still followed Birmingham and national events closely, enjoying nothing better than to scheme and gossip at the bar while putting the world to rights.”

Friends said David was a great story teller, whether in the pages of the Evening Mail or sitting on a bar stool.

City Council policy adviser Tony Smith said he had deep rooted values of fairness and honesty and a straightforward northern sense of fair play.

Former City Council Deputy Leader Andy Howell added: “David Bell was one the last great municipal journalists, perhaps the very last.

“The demise of the municipal correspondent — who held councils to account — has left us all the poorer.”

David followed Hartlepool United, played golf, liked a bet on the horses and solving The Times crossword.

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