Tributes for 'a great journalist'

It was a measure of Piers Morgan's unique standing in the world formerly known as Fleet Street that he was the subject last night of tributes from both colleagues and rivals.

It was a measure of Piers Morgan's unique standing in the world formerly known as Fleet Street that he was the subject last night of tributes from both colleagues and rivals.

Mr Morgan was part of a "club" of young journalists who cut their teeth on The Sunand have gone on to editorships.

Rebekah Wade, The Sun's editor and a close friend, said: "Piers was the greatest of rivals and a truly unique character. Fleet Street will not be the same without him."

Andy Coulson, editor of the News of the World, said: "Piers is a great journalist. He's done some brilliant things at the Daily Mirror and I think it's a real shame that his editorship has ended this way."

Trevor Kavanagh, The Sun's political editor, was less forgiving but said that Mr Morgan was not the only person at Trinity Mirror to blame for the affair. He told BBC News 24: "I think the people who are really remiss in this are the directors of Mirror Group Newspapers who sat on their hands for far too long over a number of issues and as a result I think that they have allowed someone to get away with things that no other editor might have tried."