BBC News: Popular news anchor stepping down
Media Guardian: Newsreader quits after 40 years

Mike Neville is perhaps one of the best known regional news presenters in the UK. He's a legend in the North East, and in the area the gasps that followed when he left the BBC for Tyne Tees was far louder than the news that Des Lynham was to move to ITV.

Whilst Mike's best known for his years of regional news, he was also a regular on Nationwide in the 1980s, but turned down the chance to move to London in order to stay in his native North East. His fame is so much that he even got a Gotcha Oscar from Noel Edmonds.

Mike has of course been off air since July last year when he had an emergency operation to remove a blood clot, so todays news was perhaps inevitable. However it's not all bad news as Mike's not quite ready for retirement yet, and is planning new projects for the future.