TV presenter Lynn Faulds Wood dies aged 72 after suffering stroke

Former BBC Watchdog presenter and cancer campaigner Lynn Faulds Wood has died at the age of 72.

She died after suffering a stroke, according to her family.

A statement said: “Having suffered a massive stroke last night and a subsequent bleed on the brain, presenter and journalist Lynn Faulds Wood passed away peacefully at 12 noon today with her husband John Stapleton and son Nick at her bedside.”

The presenter, who was born in Glasgow, presented Watchdog alongside Stapleton from 1985 to 1993, according to her website.

She survived bowel cancer while working for the programme and went on to call for better awareness of the illness.

Faulds Wood presented programmes about cancer including Doctor Knows Best and Bobby Moore & Me.

She also presented the investigative programme World In Action during the 1990s, before going on to become a consumer champion on GMTV between 2003 and 2009.

In 2006 she worked with Dame Esther Rantzen to present BBC consumer rights programme Old Dogs, New Tricks.

Dame Esther paid tribute to her former colleague, saying she had “known Lynn for many years”.

She added: “We made a series together which was huge fun but also very hard-hitting because she was such an impressive and courageous consumer journalist.

“She fought for the rights of vulnerable people doggedly and determinedly and she is a huge loss to journalism and to her friends and family.

“We are all devastated at this news.”

BBC 5 Live presenter and former Watchdog host Nicky Campbell also paid tribute to Faulds Wood.

He said: “I’m so sad to hear about the death of the brilliant campaigning journalist and fearless consumer champion Lynn Faulds Wood.

“She was the real thing. She cared genuinely and passionately about people and their rights.

“When I joined Watchdog hers was the legacy we all aspired to.”