A FORMER editor of the Kent Messenger, Arthur Potter, died in Maidstone Hospital on Sunday shortly after collapsing at his home in Orchard Avenue, Aylesford. He was 69.

Mr Potter had been left disabled by a stroke following an operation for a brain tumour 10 years ago.

He re-learned how to drink, eat, speak and walk short distances. Before his illness, he had been the editor of a successful trade magazine after leaving the Kent Messenger Group in 1976.

He joined the KM Group after a career in Fleet Street, working as sports sub-editor on the London Evening News and on the sports pages of the Daily Mail.

He became editor of the Kent Messenger in 1972 and editor of the KM Group’s daily newspaper, the Evening Post, in 1974. That newspaper circulated mainly in the Medway Towns and Gravesend.

Friends and colleagues were often entertained by his playing of the spoons.

Mr Potter leaves a widow, Sylvia, two daughters and five grandchildren. His wife said: “I’ll remember him as a fun-loving guy. He was a good father and a loving husband. I am sure he’s now got the angels up there playing the spoons.”

During the last years of his life, Mr Potter visited the COMPAID Trust at Pembury Hospital twice a week to work on his rehabilitation by using a computer.

The charity’s chief executive, Betty Howell said: “He was a delightful man, very kind and always thought of others. He had a wonderful sense of humour.”

David Jones, community editor of the Medway Messenger, said: "I was very sorry to hear about Arthur Potter, or ArtPot, as he was affectionately known.

"I was there on an unforgettable evening at Maidstone's Royal Star Hotel some 30 years ago when he played Yellow River on the spoons as the "cabaret" at a Kent Messenger Group dinner-dance. He was certainly one of life's great characters."

Mr Potter's funeral will be held on Friday, May 7, at 1pm, at St Peter and St Pauls Church, Vicarage Close, Aylesford.

Mr Potter's family have asked for donations to be made to the trust instead of sending flowers. Donations can be sent to the COMPAID Trust, Pembury Hospital, Tunbridge Wells, TN2 4QJ.