Presenter Harry Gration to leave BBC after 42 years

Harry Gration has presented regional news programme Look North since 1982

Broadcaster Harry Gration, the well-known presenter of the BBC Yorkshire news programme Look North, is to leave the corporation after 42 years.

Mr Gration, who joined the BBC in 1978 and Look North in 1982, will present his last show on 21 October, the day before his 70th birthday.

His co-presenter Amy Garcia will continue as lead presenter.

Mr Gration said: "It's been a privilege to meet the people of the county I love."

Mr Gration began filing match reports for the BBC while working as a history teacher in the mid 1970s.

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He covered nine Olympic Games for the BBC and won two Royal Television Society (RTS) awards for sports documentaries, in 1992 and 1997. He won the RTS Best Presenter award twice.

He recently became a father for the sixth time.

Harry Gration (right) with Amy Garcia and Paul Hudson

The director of BBC England, Helen Thomas, said Harry Gration would "always be a friend" of Look North.

He said: "I've worked with the best of the best and leave Look North in the good hands of Amy and the team, although I don't know how Paul Hudson is going to cope without me checking his forecasts. Seriously though, I'll miss my good old mate.

"I'm looking forward to some new broadcasting adventures and some special time with my family and a certain one-year-old."

He added: "I've always lived the story. Horrendous events such as the devastating news of Jo Cox's death, the disastrous floods of recent times, the Bradford riots, Hillsborough, have always affected me.

"They were always an assault on my county.

"Stand-out moments include raising over £800,000 on a tandem, pushing a sofa and being tied to Paul: three challenges my body will never forget.

"And then to be awarded an MBE for services to broadcasting. I know I served each and every one of you."

Look North's weather presenter Paul Hudson said it was the "end of an era", and Amy Garcia said Mr Gration was "a Yorkshire legend, a mentor and a dear friend."

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