A FORMER Gazette and Herald photographer has been awarded a Doctor of Philosophy by Cardiff University.

Peter Thwaites took pictures for the Gazette and Herald for more than 14 years, as well as working as a cameraman for the BBC and ITN in Wiltshire.

In 1976, he was appointed chief photographer for the Gazette and Herald as well as the Gazette's sister paper, the Swindon-based Evening Advertiser, before leaving in 1985 to begin his academic career.

His doctoral thesis, The Professors of Fleet Street, looked at the history of press photography from the first pictures appearing in newspapers in 1839 to modern paparazzi.

His research has brought to light some of the outrageous escapades of press photographers through the ages, although the Gazette, thankfully, does not feature among them.