A new permanent editor has been appointed at a daily-turned-weekly after the existing editor opted to return from maternity leave in a different role.

Charles Walker, left, has been acting editor of the Lincolnshire Echo since the spring when Mel West went on maternity leave.

Now it has been announced that Charles will take on the editor role permanently with Mel returning to work part-time in January.

Mel, who was originally appointed editor in the spring of 2014, will take charge of the Echo’s specialist publications, including a new quarterly food magazine.

Charles joined the paper as acting editor last year having previously been deputy editor of the Nottingham Post.

The changes were announced to staff by Lincolnshire Echo publisher Steven Fletcher, himself a former editor of the Local World-owned title.

He said:  “Charlie Walker is the new permanent editor of the Echo. He made a fine start in the role as he covered Mel’s maternity leave, forging excellent relationships across

Lincolnshire, identifying new revenue streams and ensuring we have a web-first policy on excellent, engaging content.

“Charlie’s a great addition to our team and will certainly be missed by his colleagues at the Nottingham Post.”

He added that Mel would be returning in January for three days a week to oversee specialist publications and would also take charge of a “radically different” business offering.

Added Steven:  “I am confident that this will be a great set up for our editorial team as we enter 2016.”

Charles joined the Nottingham Post in 2003 as the health correspondent and became the paper’s political editor in 2006.

As a reporter on the Post he won a number of awards and was twice named Specialist Journalist of the Year, once as health correspondent and once as political editor.

Mel, pictured left, became editor in May 2014 after having worked for the Echo since 1999.

She had taken over as acting editor from Steven after he stepped up to the publisher role following a Local World management reshuffle.