Two North Wales weeklies are to be put under a single editor as part of an ongoing restructure of Trinity Mirror’s operations in the region.

North Wales Weekly News group editor Alan Davies and Caernarfon Herald and Mail editor Jeff Earnes, who have a combined service of 78 years, are both taking early retirement.

As a result Anglesey Mail editor Linda Roberts will now also edit the Caernarfon Herald and Mail.

Meanwhile, Dan Owen becomes North Wales Weekly News editor in addition to having responsibility for editing all Trinity websites in the region.

The changes are part of the restructure announced at the end of November last year across Trinity’s North West and North Wales centres.

The company is in the process of creating a centralised production hub at its Llandudno Junction centre, writing and producing content for all its North Wales weekly titles as well as the North Wales Daily Post.

A Trinity Mirror statement at the time said the plan would mean “a flattened editorial management structure, with a reduction in numbers of senior management roles.”

It said that eight jobs would be lost in North Wales as a result.

Alan has been in journalism for 40 years, and an editor for 26, moving to Llandudno Junction in 2000 to head up Trinity Mirror’s weekly operation there.

Before that he had long links with the company’s Cheshire operation based in Chester and was editor of the Flintshire Chronicle for many years.

Jeff has a career in journalism in Caernarfon spanning almost 38 years. He joined the Herald and Mail group in 1971 as a trainee reporter and was appointed editor of the titles in 1989.

During their time at the helm the North Wales weeklies have been regular award winners with the paid-for North Wales Weekly News, Holyhead Mail and Caernarfon Herald winning the Wales BT Weekly Newspaper of the Year title among others.

Said Alan: “It’s a big wrench for both of us to leave the North Wales titles, but the major restructure we are undergoing makes this an opportune time for us to step aside.

“Our papers and our websites face huge challenges in the months ahead and we like to think we have helped build a strong platform that will help them survive the downturn and prosper when the economy picks up.

“North Wales is a very special place and our newspapers play a vital role at the heart of local communities. We will miss the people we have worked so closely with and readers we have got to know so well.”