A former BBC executive who lost out in the race to become the corporation’s director general has joined the board of a regional press publisher.

Caroline Thomson, who until September was chief operating officer and deputy director general of the BBC, has become a non-executive director of Carlisle-based publisher the CN Group.

She was interviewed for the role of director general earlier this year but lost out to George Entwistle.

Mr Entwistle subsequently resigned in the wake of the fiasco over a Newsnight report which wrongly implicated a senior political figure in child abuse allegations.

Commenting on the appointment, CN Group’s chairman Lord Inglewood said “Caroline will bring her immense knowledge of the media, managing change and digital developments to our deliberations.

“Her understanding of the importance of good, local journalism to local media brands fits in with our existing thinking.”

Said Caroline: “I’m delighted to be joining CN Group at what is a critical time for the local media.

“CN has very strong local titles with a great journalistic tradition and I look forward to contributing to their continued success.”

Caroline, pictured above, is married to Lord (Roger) Liddle and they live in Abbeytown, near Carlisle, and London.

Her initial career was as a broadcast journalist and producer on Radio Four and Panorama.  She then moved to Channel 4 before returning to the BBC.