Â鶹Éç

Hayley Valentine has been appointed director of Â鶹Éç Scotland, the corporation has announced.

The current head of Â鶹Éç Midlands will replace Steve Carson, who will take up a senior role in Dublin with the Irish public service broadcaster, RTÉ.

Ms Valentine was the launch editor of Â鶹Éç Scotland's The Nine in 2019 and is a former head of the Â鶹Éç radio newsroom.

She has also held a number of senior roles including head of news at Radio 5 Live and executive producer of Â鶹Éç Question Time.

Â鶹Éç director general Tim Davie said: "I know Hayley is determined to build on Â鶹Éç Scotland’s editorial success – working with talented journalists and content-makers across the country, inside and outside the Â鶹Éç.

"Her depth of experience speaks for itself, and her creative ambition and commitment to public service broadcasting are obvious to everybody who works with her."

Ms Valentine worked as a journalist at DC Thomson and Radio Forth before joining the Â鶹Éç in 1996.

The University of Edinburgh graduate is currently based in Birmingham but will begin her new role in Glasgow on 11 November.

Ms Valentine said she was "thrilled" to have been asked to lead Â鶹Éç Scotland.

She added: "There is a wealth of first-class creative talent in Scotland within the Â鶹Éç and across the wider sector.

"I am looking forward to working with them all to create the highest quality content for our audiences in Scotland, and to represent Scotland to audiences across the UK and beyond."