Granada news host Bob Greaves dies
Bob Greaves, the face of Granada news programmes in North West England for more than 30 years, has died.
The former newspaper journalist was a familiar face to anyone in 'Granadaland' as a TV presenter from the 1960s until the late 1990s. He died at the age of 76 on Monday afternoon after a battle with cancer.
Tributes have poured in for 'Mr Granada', who presented flagship news bulletin Granada Reports from its launch in 1973.
Gordon Burns, the BBC North West Tonight presenter who worked with Greaves at Granada, described him as "a fantastic character".
Peter Salmon, the BBC North director, said: "Bob Greaves was one of the region's on-screen greats. I had the pleasure of watching him in the seventies and eighties as a viewer on Granada Reports before working with him in the nineties.
"He made live broadcasting look effortless and had a tremendous range - able to tackle the big story with authority and the quirky item with warmth. He brought great humanity to local news and we were lucky to have him at the heart of our regional broadcasting for so many years. Our thoughts are with his family at this time."
The comedian Chris Addison, who grew up in Greater Manchester, tweeted: "RIP Bob Greaves. A part of my childhood, he was. He's handed back to the big studio in the sky."
Granada TV will be paying tribute to their former colleague throughout the day and on its Granada Reports programme this evening.
In the meantime viewers can recall one of Greaves's most fondly remembered TV bulletins, when he was accosted by an over-friendly elephant during an outside broadcast from Chester Zoo.