The Ledbury Reporter's Gary Bills has had his first book of poetry published.

Called The Echo and the Breath, Mr Bills, of Wellington Heath, said his aim in writing poetry was to entertain his readers.

"The mood of the book is really inner life - the idea that peoples' dreams and fears are as real their everyday lives, and sometimes more real," he said.

"Some touch on religion, others touch on death and some on imagination. There's a lot of nostalgia there."

Mr Bills started to write poetry seriously during his first year at university and has had poems published in literary magazines.

"I'd obviously written the usual teenage rubbish but I was studying English and I became more interested," he said.

"Early inspirations were Dylan Thomas because he sweeps you up with his mad imagery and he's everyone's idea of a poet. But as you move on, because he often says not a lot but very well, you look towards poets who say more with more clarity like W B Yeats. But my great idol is Keats, I'm just an old romantic at heart!"

Mr Bills bases his poetry on imagery and says being a journalist had given him the gift of being concise, creating a bigger impact with fewer words.

The Echo and the Breath includes 66 pages of poetry, some dating back to his university days. The cover illustration was painted by his wife Heather.

It is published by Peterloo and will available from Ledbury Books and Maps, where Mr Bills will be holding a book launch at a later date.