MARY-ANN Bloomfield, former Editor of the Mid Devon Gazette Series, has died suddenly at the age of 57.

The news came as a great shock both to the newspaper’s staff, and to her many friends in the community.

Mary-Ann, who was promoted to the role of Commercial Editor with Cornwall and Devon Media Ltd, the Gazette’s parent company, in January this year, died at the cottage she rented in the Cornish village of Devoran, near Truro. The family home remains in Cullompton, Devon.