A popular GP is moving on to a fresh challenge after 20 years with a Keighley practice.

Dr Neil Wilson will bid farewell to patients and colleagues at Holycroft Surgery at the end of this month.

The 51-year-old, from Lothersdale, is taking on the role of the single GP serving the rural village of Slaidburn, in the Forest of Bowland, from September.

Dr Wilson will also be known to Keighley News readers for the health articles he wrote under his pseudonym of Keith Lee.

He said: "The patients here have been great and I have been very lucky to have very good staff and partners.

"It's been very rewarding over the past 20 years to get to know the many families in depth because you see them often year after year, and each consultation is like a brick in a wall that gradually gets built."

He said there had certainly been a rise in the workload and a rise in the number of patients, but there simply were not enough GPs in this country.

"There are also many things we do now that 20 years ago were carried out in hospital, like minor operations and providing treatment for conditions such as angina and diabetes," he added.

It was at the surgery that Dr Wilson met his wife, Cathryn, who continues to work at the Oakworth Road medical centre as the lead practice nurse for Airedale Primary Care Trust.

The medical profession runs in the Wilson family blood, with both his father, Cedric, and grandfather, Alan, serving as GPs.

After studying medicine at Birmingham, Dr Wilson began his career as a junior doctor at Airedale Hospital, which he had watched being built as a lad.

As well as writing for the KN, Dr Wilson has also had numerous articles published in medical magazines.

The writing bug has also been passed on to his 16-year-old daughter, Hannah, who is a student at Skipton Girls' School and a regular book reviewer for the KN.