I know I've been a bit quiet this week, but it's been rather hectic all round culminating in our most frenzied deadline day for some while.

No surprises for guessing which story took up most of our time. I'd designed a very (in my opinion anyway) dramatic front page last night, before tearing everything up when the first reports came in of the West Croydon shooting.

(The story that was to have been the splash has now been relegated to page 3).

I'm not going into the ins and outs of the shooting story, but I should just say the reporting team - marshalled by content editor Andy Worden - did an incredible job in a very short space of time.

Special mention to Aline Nassif and Neil Millard, who showed just how important it is for reporters to have good contacts anywhere and everywhere. More later.