Malcolm Starbrook has been appointed editor of the East London Advertiser.

Currently chief sub-editor at Press Gazette, the move will see him return to the paper where he began his journalism career in 1969.

He said: "The Advertiser has always been my local paper and I have a lot of affection for it.

"Taking charge of it now comes at a really exciting time for the paper - not least because of the regeneration the entire area is experiencing.

"There are enormous challenges to be met and I am looking forward to meeting them with the help of the Advertiser's team."

Before joining Press Gazette a year ago, Malcolm, (54), had been group editor at the Croydon Advertiser series for 14 years.

He also edited the Bury Free Press, and launched the Milton Keynes Standard.

Now owned by Archant, the East London Advertiser was owned by the family operation Greater London and Essex Newspaper Group when Malcolm first joined the title.

He said: "The opportunity to return was an offer I couldn't refuse."

He is due to take up his new role at the paper, which has a weekly circulation of 16,000, on April 4.

He succeeds Richard Tidiman who left the post due to ill health.