The group editor of a Sussex weekly newspaper series is leaving the titles at the end of March.

Peter Austin has spent nearly 43 years in the newspaper industry and has been editor of the Eastbourne Gazette and Herald for almost four years.

The move comes as part of a wider reorganisation by parent company Johnston Press which includes the merging of its Sussex Newspapers and TR Beckett divisions.

The 60-year-old said: “I’ve greatly enjoyed my time as editor of our papers. I’ve made many friends, and, hopefully, not too many enemies.

“Having lived in the town for nearly 30 years it has been a privilege to have been involved in the task of recording Eastbourne’s news.”

Peter has spent his career in the south of England working on papers in Bournemouth and Kent.

Deputy editor Laura Sonier will take charge of the Eastbourne patch while a replacement editor-in-chief covering the company’s titles in Hastings, Eastbourne, Lewes and Bexhill is appointed.

Peter’s departure follows that of five journalists on the same day last month across the company’s Sussex titles who, collectively, had worked in local newspapers for nearly 200 years.