Mark Eustace has been appointed editor of the Sutton Coldfield Observer.

Previously editor of sister paper the Great Barr Observer, he succeeds Gary Phelps who is now group editor of Central Independent Newspapers.

Mark, (pictured), had been editor of the Great Barr Observer for five years and was also deputy editor of the Sutton Coldfield paper.

He had previously worked for the Sutton Coldfield Observer as a reporter, joining the paper in 1992.

Mark, (34), said: “I’m really proud and excited to be the new editor of the Sutton Coldfield Observer.

“The Observer is an award-winning newspaper and I am looking forward to taking the paper forward and building on the success and respect it already enjoys.

“It has a fantastic reporting and photography team, and together we will strive to make an excellent paper even better.”