FRIENDS and colleagues have paid tribute to a man who volunteered as a radio presenter, engineer and manager for more than 20 years.

Mike Smith, from Darlington, died aged 44 a week before Christmas after a brief battle with cancer.

He was a long-serving volunteer with Darlington Hospital Radio and used his skills as an electrician to build a new studio and maintain the equipment.

John Forbes, vice-chairman of Radio Skerne said: "As our station engineer, Mike spearheaded many of the technical aspects of running the station.

"He was also very good at meeting the listeners on the wards and members of the public with his trusty collection tin.

"Despite it being more financially rewarding to just fill in application forms for grants, he preferred the old face-to-face methods of raising money and raising the awareness of the station within the community."

Mr Smith's wife, Sue, said: "Mike genuinely believed that friendly word and a familiar tune could lift the spirits.

"In fact, during his own recent stay in hospital and, despite being given the cruellest of diagnoses, he proceeded to collect requests from his fellow patients and encouraged the whole ward to listen in.

"He was full of ideas on how to improve the service and was looking forward to getting back behind the microphone, as it gave him a valid excuse to indulge his 'eclectic' musical taste where I didn't have to listen - the man was not perfect!"

Anyone who can help Radio Skerne with the technical side of the operation can email radio_skerne@hotmail.com