THE Daily Echo is mourning the loss of popular journalist and production head Chris Parnell at the age of 46.

Chris, who had been with the Echo since 1998, died on Tuesday evening of cancer.

The father-of-two passed away peacefully at Poole Hospital, surrounded by his loved ones.

His wife Karen, who had been married to Chris for 17 years, said: “He was my best friend and he was an amazing dad. The children loved him dearly. He was an amazing brother too. He and his brother Ed had a very close relationship.”

He leaves behind two daughters, Emily, 12, and Olivia, nine.

Originally from Lincolnshire, Chris, who was a keen fan of Norwich City and Bruce Springsteen and a devoted birdwatcher, went to Spalding Grammar School and Wolverhampton Polytechnic.

He was taken on as a sub-editor at the Southampton Advertiser in 1995 by future Echo editor Neal Butterworth.

In 1998, he followed Neal to the Daily Echo, where Chris later became chief sub-editor.

During his time in charge of the subbing department, the paper earned a string of award wins and nominations.

Known for his dry sense of humour, Chris was a popular columnist, who was highly-commended in the 2008 EDF Energy London and the South of England Media Awards for Columnist of the Year.

After the sub-editing of the Echo moved to Weymouth in 2010, Chris became the head of multimedia production for all of Newsquest Dorset’s titles. Newsquest Dorset group editor Toby Granville said: “I only had the pleasure of working with Chris for the last four years when he joined the Weymouth subbing hub and was involved with producing everything from free newspapers, to glossy magazines to our flagship dailies.

“In fact, anything our readers have seen in the last few years would have had his fingerprints on it. Totally unflappable, dedicated and dependable, his meticulous eye for quality and high standards was second to none.

“The Echo has lost a member of its family today and his extraordinary talent will be much missed.”