Westcountry TV weatherman and presenter Ron Bendell dies

Former Westcountry TV weatherman and presenter Ron Bendell has died.

Mr Bendell died at his home at Bondleigh, near Winkleigh in Devon.

A huge character, Ron moved from print journalism to television, featuring on TSW before becoming one of the founding fathers of Westcountry Television.

He was also farming editor of the Western Morning News. Although he was a weatherman, Ron's talent for broadcasting was so much broader than that.

A fantastic wordsmith, it's hard to believe that many of his scripts were created first on the back of a cigarette packet.

Editors loved working with him, young journalists learned so much from the way he used his words to paint a thousand pictures.

His irreverent humour and loud booming voice filled the newsroom at Westcountry TV in his heyday. He will be sorely missed.