FORMER Hampshire Chronicle chief reporter and author Warwick Payne has unveiled his latest writing project to coincide with the launch of his official website.

The site – warwickpayne.co.uk – is now live and contains information about all his previous works. It also includes fascinating facts including his favourite recipes, craft beers, live bands, and how he fractured his skull and survived to tell the tale.

It also features his decade in newspapers, working as the Chronicle's chief reporter and writing front-page articles for the Daily Echo and Romsey Advertiser.

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He won several awards including Newsquest Scoop of the Year after an exclusive interview with scandal-hit Winchester MP, Mark Oaten, in 2006.

He also interviewed a host of other politicians including Theresa May and Nick Clegg, before entering the fray himself.

Warwick has served as a Southampton City Councillor for Woolston since 2007 and between 2015 and 2018 he was Deputy Leader. He then went into public relations handling major housing and infrastructure schemes, but still chairs the council's health committee.

(Image: Warwick Payne)

Staying with politics, the new website includes a teaser for his upcoming seventh book, Town Hall: Mostly a Fiction. It is due to launch in February 2025 and does to local government what Yes Minister did to Westminster.

Whilst the setting and characters are imaginary, some plot lines are inspired by his time on the council, and reporting on local authorities across Hampshire.

Warwick said: “I've collected so much material on local government over the years that the only hard part was deciding what to leave out. On that note, people have been urging me for years to write a book on the subject, but I kept replying there was no point as nobody would ever believe it.”

Warwick's other six books include No Truth Told Here, a thriller following the fortunes of a Southampton rock band. All the titles are available for sale in both print and electronic versions.

Warwick, 46, lives in Woolston, Southampton, with his wife, Louise - née Glyde who is also a former Hampshire Chronicle reporter - and their daughter, Tabitha.