A regional journalist who previously spearheaded a publisher’s group-wide investigations team has announced her switch to the BBC.

Claire Wilde was among a number of high-profile figures who announced their departures from National World this summer amid a raft of enforced and voluntary redundancies – a list that included her investigations colleague Harriet Clugston.

She wrote at the time: “I’ve made the tough decision to leave National World after a fantastic five years… I’m on the lookout for new opportunities, so get in touch if you need a data journalist.”

Now Claire, left, is ready to take on a new challenge with BBC Leeds after starting a new role there on Monday as a journalist covering West Yorkshire.

Formerly of the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, Claire joined The Yorkshire Post as crime correspondent in 2018 and was made group data and Investigations Editor a year later.

Having studied data journalism through a secondment to the BBC Shared Data Unit in Birmingham, she helped run a National World team which supplied regional data and content to all daily and weekly titles across the country.

Said Claire: “Working in the data and investigations team at National World (and its predecessors JPIMedia and Johnston Press), really was a dream role.

“I am incredibly proud of the work we produced, from building tracker stories monitoring the under-strain NHS to running investigations into rip-off PFI schemes.

“But it’s always good to set yourself a new challenge, so I’m really pleased to be joining the BBC team in Yorkshire, a part of the world I really care about and which I’ve called home for more than 20 years.

“I’m looking forward to meeting my new colleagues and getting stuck into some important stories.”