A daily’s newspaper’s first ever female editor is to retire after more than 30 years with the same regional publisher.

DC Thomson has announced Catriona MacInnes, editor of Dundee-based daily The Courier, will leave the company in the autumn.

Catriona, pictured, has edited The Courier since 2017, but said she has been intending to retire for “the last couple of years.”

Her replacement has yet to be announced.

Catriona said: “It’s been my intention to retire for the last couple of years, but I’ve been encouraged to stay and accept new challenges and roles.

“I’m incredibly proud to have held the editorship of such a great newspaper.

“I have had the pleasure of working with a great newsroom and I’ll miss the people who surround me; it has been a privilege to have had the opportunity to work alongside them over the years.”

Catriona began her DC Thomson career in magazines with monthly women’s title Annabel, where she worked her way up to assistant editor then editor.

A spell in teenage magazines followed before she moved to The Courier in 1992 as deputy features editor.

Over the years, Catriona rose up the editorial ladder and, along the way, launched the paper’s Weekend section and co-founded DC Thomson’s Living magazine.

Richard Neville, head of newspapers at DC Thomson and Catriona’s predecessor at The Courier, said, “Catriona has done a fantastic job as editor, bringing new life and a fresh perspective to the role over the last two years.

“It is with very mixed emotions that I see her leave. I have twice persuaded Catriona to postpone her retirement, most recently so that she could take up the post of editor of The Courier in the summer of 2017.

“I will be very sorry to see her go, as will the team, but I wish her all the best as she embarks on this new stage in her life.”