Artist draws last 'Mere Quacks' cartoon for Diss newspaper

A journalist friend of Mike Webb's suggested he create a cartoon for the Diss Express in 1973

A cartoonist who thought his comic strip about a town's ducks would last a month has retired after 51 years.

Mere Quacks was first featured in the Diss Express in 1973 after Mike Webb was approached by a journalist friend.

His first editor suggested the theme because the Norfolk town has a six-acre (2.5 hectares) mere at its heart, which is known for its ducks.

The paper's deputy editor Duncan Bradley gave his "sincere thanks to Mike for all of his contributions".

The cartoons are topical, often draw upon Diss stories, and also feature a "shaggy and disreputable dog"

"Mere Quacks has always offered a creative and amusing insight into life in this part of the country," Mr Bradley said.

"With much-loved characters such as Dinsdale, Joni, Scumzer and Rodney the raft spider, Mike's creations have been the perfect accompaniment to our news offering.

"All good things must come to an end, however, and it was with a heavy heart that we had to cease our long and fruitful association."

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Mr Webb, who lives in Suffolk, said he had a "fairly loose remit" but always tried to give the cartoon a Diss theme.

"A friend of mine got a job at the paper and he mentioned it might be a good idea to have a cartoon, and put in a word for me," said the freelance artist, who also creates watercolours.

"The editor was up for it... she said if I did one, bring it in and see how we go.

"I thought I might be able to keep it going for a month and then I'd be really stuck and, here we are, 51 years later and it's still going."

Initially, the cartoons would often feature the town's buildings, such as the Corn Hall or the council offices because he "wasn't confident about my ability in the early days to make up jokes".

Mr Webb said it had been a good showcase for his work as a professional cartoonist and artist specialising in watercolours

In recent years, Mere Quacks has also been featured in the town's talking newspaper for the visually impaired.

"There's a bunch of people who act out the cartoons - that's amazing," he said.

"Certain characters are allocated to certain people - the one that plays the old shaggy and disreputable dog, he used to be my doctor, I know him quite well."

He was "a bit sad" about the cartoon strip coming to an end but added it was "a good shop window for me and it brought me a lot of extra work, so can't complain, really".