The final round for 88 year old delivery boy Eric

Pensioner Derek Marbeck has hung up his delivery bag and stopped popping newspapers through letter boxes.

But Derek who at 88 and three-quarter-years could have been Britain's oldest news boy won't be taking it easy.

He told the Chronicle: “I could have gone on until I was 90.

“But now I am unemployed I will have to find a new way to exercise.”

Bolton-born Derek had a newspaper round in the Lancashire town at 14 but never expected to take up his old job again.

However, time was hanging heavy for Derek after retiring from his role as Tameside Council’s Director of Education.

That was before a chance meeting with Ron of R. and J. News of Glossop, who appointed him to deliver newspapers in the Spire Hollin area where he still lives.

That was in 1998 and Derek’s been on his rounds under different newsagents, every morning, six days a week.

He never took a day off, even when the ‘Beast from the East’ blitzed Britain, walking around his hilly round in all weathers.

Delivering newspapers while keeping fit was important for Derek, but so was keeping an eye on his customers.

 Over the years many became friends, and Derek was always looking out for unopened mail on the doormat or other signs that someone inside needed help.

Derek’s deliveries ended in October when he says he became redundant after rounds were taken over by a company in Stoke.

So now one of his new-found exercises involves walking to a supermarket to buy his Chronicle.

Local charities will also suffer from Derek’s demise - he used to donate his delivery wages to them.