Tributes have been paid to long-serving BBC Radio Leeds journalist Andrew Evans, who died suddenly at the age of 57.
The father-of-two, who had worked at the BBC for 30 years, was known to audiences as “Producer Andy”.
Andrew, who produced the breakfast show presented by Rima Ahmed, died on 21 June while on holiday in France.
Simon Monk, executive editor of the station, described him as “a natural in every way and a thoroughly, thoroughly great person with it”.
During his long career with the corporation, Andy had worked with and mentored numerous behind-the-scenes staff as well as presenters.
He had also worked as the station’s news editor, covering some of the region’s biggest stories, as well as spending time in Nigeria as part of a BBC World Service Trust outreach project.
Rima announced her friend and colleague’s death during a pre-recorded segment on Wednesday’s breakfast show.
She said: “It’s with a deep sense of loss that I have to tell you that our beloved Andrew Evans died suddenly on Sunday… all of us here at BBC Radio Leeds are absolutely devastated.”
The presenter, who had worked with Andy since 2022, also spoke about the love he had for his family.
“Producer Andy is what I called him here, but he is also known by quite a few names – dad, was one of them to Tom and Ollie, who he was just utterly mad about,” she said.
“He was also known as Andrew, husband to Emma.
“Emma, he referred to you on air as missus, with such affection… you were the centre of his universe and he was so content with the life you both built together.”