Nigel Dacre, the editor of ITV news programmes including News At Ten, is leaving his job later this month.

Dacre, who has worked for ITN for 20 years, will be replaced by David Mannion once coverage of the anniversary of the 11 September attacks is completed next week.

Dacre has spent seven years in the job

ITN provides news bulletins for ITV as well as Channel 5.

In a statement, Dacre said: "Editing ITV News is a great privilege and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

"The ITV news team is great to work with and I have no doubt they they will continue to produce world class popular quality journalism.

"But seven years is a long time in the job, which is why I have decided to move on now."

Dacre, whose remit includes News at Ten and ITV's lunchtime and early evening bulletins, has been with the organisation for 20 years. His brother Paul edits the Daily Mail.

'Outstanding'

His successor, David Mannion, spent 17 years at ITN, leaving in 1995. As the new editor of ITV's news programmes, he is returning to the job he did before he left ITN.

Since then, he has been editor of ITV's breakfast service GMTV, as well as long-running investigative series The Cook Report and Tonight With Trevor McDonald.

ITN chief executive Stewart Purvis said: "Nigel has been an outstanding editor of ITV News, a fact that has been widely acknowledged both by his peers in the industry and by the many awards that ITV News has won during his tenure."

David Mannion will also take charge of the ITN News Channel, which goes out on digital TV, and the ITV News website.

Dacre has seen his operation through a difficult seven years.

New contract

ITV battled with the regulators over moving News At Ten - which it did in 1999, only to partially reinstate it in 2001.

The ITN name was dropped from its bulletins after four decades, and while the company won a new contract to provide ITV's news last year, the victory came at a cost.

Also off: Dermot Murnaghan has joined the BBC

In December, the company announced it was axing 133 jobs - including 10 journalists - after it slashed the value of its contract to see off a rival bid from Sky.

But Dacre's team also won awards - during his tenure, ITN's service on ITV won 14 Royal Television Society awards, including programme of the year for News At Ten in 1998, the year before it was moved.

Coverage of the Kosovo war and the Mozambique floods won Golden Nymph awards at Monte Carlo, while its output on the day of the 11 September attacks is shortlisted for an International Emmy.

On screen, one of Mannion's first jobs will be to reshuffle his presenters, after Dermot Murnaghan left to replace Jeremy Bowen on the BBC's Breakfast programme.