A JOURNALIST who started his career at the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and worked his way up at the BBC has died, aged 57.

Mark Whittaker began his career at the Telegraph in 1980 and worked at the newspaper’s High Street office until 1983, when he moved to BBC Radio Lancashire.

MORE TOP STORIES:

The lifelong Blackburn Rovers fan had most recently been working for the BBC’s Business Report and Business Matters team.

He died last week, just three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer.

He left behind his wife, Jane, and two children.

Mr Whittaker, who spent most of his career behind the microphone, left Lancashire to work for MMC West Midlands in the mid-1980s before breaking into national reporting on Radio One.

He has since worked on Radio Four and Radio Five Live before joining the World Service in 2003.

Mr Whittaker, who was also a real ale connoiseour, was also given the Sony Award (Bronze) for Reporter of the Year in 1995.

BBC World Service editor Martin Webber said: “Mark was a radio genius who not only had brilliant ideas, but relentlessly executed them to perfection.”

Mr Whittaker’s colleague and BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam said: “He had a huge impact on my career.

“He was witty, engaging and a superb writer who cared more about the output than his relaxed nature belied.”