Alan Towers was a former presenter of Midlands Today

Midlands Today

Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for the West Midlands region, which covers the north of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands county...

, BBC Midlands' regional news programme.

After stints as a newsreader with ITN and Granada Television

Granada Television

Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 in Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, Towers joined BBC Midlands in 1972 as a main presenter on Midlands Today and was also seen nationally as a presenter of features from the English Midlands on Nationwide

Nationwide (TV series)

Nationwide was a BBC News and Current affairs television programme broadcast on BBC One each weekday following the early evening news. It followed a magazine format, combining political analysis and discussion with consumer affairs, light entertainment and sports reporting...

. His most famous item was the infamous skateboarding duck

Skateboarding duck

Herbie the skateboarding duck was the subject of an item first broadcast on the Midlands Today insert to the BBC news magazine programme Nationwide on 24 May 1978....

story.

Following a heart attack during the late eighties, Towers left his role as main presenter but continued on Midlands Today as a sports presenter and reporter. During this time, he also raised thousands of pounds for charity by walking the Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...

 and riding a motorbike across Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

.

In 1997, Towers announced his resignation from the BBC on-air and left viewers with a disparaging comment about the state of BBC management:

"This is my last programme for the BBC after 25 years. When I first joined the corporation, it was led by giants. Now, I'm afraid it's being led by pygmies wearing blindfolds. How sad."

Despite these comments, Towers returned to Midlands Today as a special guest on the programme's last broadcast from the Pebble Mill studios in October 2004.

Alan Towers died on Saturday 24th May 2008 at his home in Warwickshire, after a long illness. He was 73 years old.