Today I am signing off after more than 15 years as editor of your regional evening newspaper.

In that time I have been honoured and privileged to oversee your favourite news provider.

I have also enjoyed providing these daily Opinion columns on local, regional, national and, occasionally, international issues.

You may not always have agreed with them, indeed you may never have agreed with them, but that is not what they are here for.

The idea is to spark debate and make you think about what is happening in your town, region or nation. If they have achieved that, and judging from the letters column they have, I will mark the Opinion column down as a success.

Over the years we have campaigned for open government and argued on behalf of ordinary folk on all manner of topics.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my thoughts. Now it is time for some-one else to take over. Thank you for all the good wishes you have sent me and I wish the new editor and yourselves all the good fortune in the world.

Peter Butterfield