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Fleet Street veteran art director Phil Ashcroft dies

By Press Gazette

Former News of the World art director Phil Ashcroft has died after an 18 month battle with cancer. He was 70.

Ashcroft retired in 2001 after spending 35 years on Fleet Street. He oversaw the first edition of the News of the World when it changed from a broadsheet to a tabloid in 1984.

Colleagues said he was widely respected for his air of calm authority both on the News of the World and previously at The Sun.

His wife Sally, who he was married to for 39 years, said: “He loved working at the News of the World. He had a tear in his eye when he saw the first tabloid News of the World roll off the presses.”

The funeral will be held on Friday, April 1 at 11am at the chapel at Camberwell New Cemetery, Brenchley Gardens, Forest Hill, London SE23 3RD. Flowers or donations to St. Christopher’s Hospice, Sydenham SE26 6DZ.

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