"I was a reporter in a wonderful office. It was a great atmosphere, although we were always out scouting for news, so didn't see each other too much," said Brian Downs, reminiscing over his days as a Comet reporter in 1953.

Mr Downs, 72, from Lovekyn Close, Kingston , spent just a year on the paper but until eight years ago still had his original reporting typewriter, and continues to write short stories.

As an enthusiastic 22-year-old, he joined the Comet as a reporter for the Hamptons and Walton - and spent much of his time reporting on Walton Bridge and the occasional sex scandal.

He said: "I was a keen writer so decided to try my hand at the Surrey Comet.

I only had two main contacts and was good at missing stories, so it was
probably a good thing I moved on after a year.

"There were about 10 reporters while I was working for the Comet. It was a seven-day week and we often went to night meetings, but we did get the occasional afternoon off.

"You could park just about anywhere in Kingston and there was no Clarence Street , so things have changed.

"The biggest story I ever covered was about a sex scandal at a church in Walton. It was a huge story and I was begged not to write it, but as it turned out there was only so much we could say about it because of libel laws.

"There was a lot of writing about the Walton Sea Cadets and the ongoing Walton Bridge story as to whether or not it was to be built.

"The press pass was very good - I had plenty of free meals, trips to the
theatre, travel expenses paid, it was great.

"I left the Comet to go into teaching and I've travelled the world since
then. There's hardly a country I haven't visited, but the next on my list
are Japan and New Zealand.

"The Comet is a very different paper these days, but I'm still a reader."

Mr Brian Downs