The ambulance service is mourning the loss of a former long-serving member of staff, described as a 'dear colleague and friend'.

Roy Wallis qualified as an ambulanceman in 1973 and served until November 2008, even working part-time after his retirement.

His death, following a battle with cancer, was announced by the East of England Ambulance Trust on Wednesday.

He died at home surrounded by his wife and family, having been admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital with pneumonia.

Robert Flute, head of resilience and special operations, said: 'The Trust and our team will always have fond memories of the time we spent with him with his endless stories and wealth of knowledge of the ambulance service, and in particular, emergency preparedness.'

Mr Wallis, 69, moved to Cromer in 1974 having been based in Leicester during his training for the Millar Certificate, where he was the top student on the course.

In 1988 he was promoted to leading ambulance man in Cromer for Norfolk Ambulance Service, the same year he qualified as a paramedic.

He took on a number of other roles in the ensuing years, including being promoted to group station officer paramedic for the county's northern group.

In 1999 he took on the critical role of county commander, becoming responsible for the placement of community paramedics in some 25 GP surgeries across Norfolk.

Mr Wallis was also charged with setting up the first response posts across Norfolk to facilitate the 8 minute deployment plan.

He later took up the post of resilience and contingency planning manager, before his retirement in 2008.

Despite retiring, Mr Wallis continued to offer his wealth of experience to the service, working as an emergency planning advisor.

Indeed, on the day he was taken into hospital Mr Wallis had been working at Hellesdon as a resilience advisor.

He will be remembered at a full Ambulance Service funeral at Norwich Cathedral on Wednesday, October 9 at 2pm. This will be followed by a wake at the Holiday Inn North near Norwich Airport.

His family have asked for family flowers only, but donations to the charity Brain Tumour UK would be welcomed.