The man appointed to lead the BBC in Birmingham just a year ago is to step down from the role.

Tommy Nagra has quit the post based at The Mailbox and will return to Salford where he will work in his previous role of head of TV, religion and ethics.

He will be replaced by Joe Godwin who was appointed director of the BBC Academy in October and who will combine both posts following Mr Nagra's departure at the end of March.

The 47 year old took over at the helm of BBC Birmingham last January with a remit to raise the Corporation's profile in the city and across the broadcaster's network.

He recently admitted the task was a large one by saying the move from its former base at Pebble Mill to The Mailbox had left the BBC "largely unknown" in the city.

He said today: "The plan was always that I was not going to be in Birmingham for ever and ever. My role was head of business development, a new role as figurehead for the BBC in Birmingham.

"I am not leaving straight away, I am here until the end of March, when I will be returning to my home in Altrincham.

"Joe is an incredibly talented, creative leader who will be taking on my role as well as running the Academy....I will work closely with him until the end of March.

"I have known Joe for a number of years and he is a very passionate, very talented leader. We have a very capable, senior figure who will take Birmingham on to the next level.

"I have had an incredibly exhilarating and challenging year but I think it is job done for me and time to politely exit stage left.

"My role was to make the business more visible across the city, a new role created to revive our operation here.

"My family moved from Birmingham four years ago, I have got three children who are now settled up in the north even though they were all born in Birmingham."

Mr Nagra began his career at BBC Pebble Mill in the early 1990s before leaving to join Birmingham-based Maverick Television as senior executive producer in 2005.

For many years, he was a non-executive director and sat on the board of the regional screen agency Screen WM before leaving to join the BBC in the north.