THE York wife of broadcaster Harry Gration has thanked the public for their support following his sudden death - and told of her disbelief at his passing.

Helen Gration used Harry's Twitter account to say that she and the couple's three boys would like to thank everyone for the 'beautiful things' they had posted since he died suddenly on Friday.

"We are in such disbelief that his chair remains empty today and his coffee cup unused," she said. "We’ll try to reply as much as possible in time. We love him and miss him totally."

She later thanked Look North for a 'lovely tribute" on TV on Saturday, saying: "This helped today," and also thanked former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott after he had tweeted that he was 'so sad' to hear of Harry’s passing.

He said: "A proud Yorkshireman, he was the best broadcaster of his generation.

"It was always a pleasure to be interviewed by him. He wasn’t scared to ask the hard questions.

"But for Harry, the story and the viewer came first, not the presenter."

Helen said: "Thank you so much John. He set himself high standards always."

Harry had become a Yorkshire institution after fronting the BBC's Look North programme between 1982 and 2020 in a career spanning more than 40 years.

Bill Hearld, a resident of Burn, near Selby, where the ex-Look North presenter was elected honorary mayor in 2009 and performed the village's Christmas lights switch-on, said the village Union Flag was being flown at half-mast as a mark of respect.

Bill, a former deputy editor of The Press, who said he and Harry became good friends after they met and 'clicked' as fellow journalists. "He was well liked in Burn and our hearts go out to his wife and family," he said. "Harry was a really nice man, one of the best."

Chris Mason,the new political editor of BBC News, said Harry had been an inspiration to him, growing up in the Dales and fascinated by broadcasting and news, adding: "Warmth, humanity, humour, fairness, storytelling. Simply brilliant."