Tributes paid to Yorkshire's 'gentle giant of politics' Len Tingle following death at age of 63

Tributes have been paid to former political journalist Len Tingle who has died aged 63 following a year-long battle with cancer.

By The Newsroom

Published 11th Apr 2018, 19:09 BST

Updated 11th Apr 2018, 19:16 BST

Len, who was the BBC Yorkshire political editor, was a familiar face on Look North and Sunday Politics.

He lived in Huddersfield but was brought up in Cudworth near Barnsley.

His television career began at Central TV in 1981, before joining the BBC in 1989 as a business presenter in London.

He moved to Leeds as business and industry correspondent before taking up the role of political editor in 2001.

Helen Thomas, head of BBC Yorkshire, described him as the "gentle giant of politics in Yorkshire".

"As a colleague he was kind, honest and always ready to help others," she said.

"As a political journalist he was passionate in the pursuit of the real story.

"For many he made sense of the changing political landscape in Yorkshire and it's a tribute to him that so many politicians of today and yesterday saw him as journalist they could trust in good times and in bad."