The editor of the Burton Mail has left his post after seven years on the same day as a major restructure of its parent company was announced.

But Paul Hazeldine, who joined the Staffordshire daily after 14 years on The Sun, says the two events were unconnected and that he made his decision to quit several months ago.

Friday’s announcement saw Steve Lowe, previously group editor of LSN Media, made editor-in-chief of the new Iliffe News and Media Central division, which now covers the Burton title.

Paul was previously group editor of Staffordshire Newspapers which has now been subsumed within the new division.

Speaking to HoldtheFrontPage on Friday he said: “I am leaving today but it’s nothing to do with anything else that has been announced. I am just retiring from journalism and doing other things.

“I will miss it tremendously. I still think it’s the best profession to be in and my time here has probably been the best seven years of my career.”

Paul joined the Mail in 2001 having previously been the chief sub-editor of The Sun’s Saturday TV magazine.

Taking over from long-serving predecessor Brian Vertigen, he soon put his stamp on the title by carrying out a radical redesign.

He began his editing career on weekly titles in Manchester and Staffordshire before moving to The Sun in 1986.

Mail staff have been told that deputy editor Andrew Parker will be in charge for the time being, but it is understood no permanent appointment has yet been made.

Friday’s announcement by Iliffe News and Media chief executive David Fordham listed a series of key appointments in the company’s two new divisions, INML Central which covers Staffordshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, and INML East which covers Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Essex.

Cambridge News editor Colin Grant will be the group editor-in-chief of the INML East division.

Mr Fordham said: “During the course of the next three months the new teams, while continuing in their present roles, will be working toward the centralisation of some of the functions that are currently carried out independently within Cambridge Newspapers Ltd, Herts & Essex Newspapers Ltd, Staffordshire Newspapers Ltd and LSN Media Ltd.

“The process will begin with the centralisation of our credit control departments into two teams based in Cambridge and Burton respectively from 1 March.”