Jane Garvey announces she's leaving Woman's Hour at the end of the year

Jane Garvey has announced she will quit Woman’s Hour at the end of the year.

The broadcaster will host her own interview series on Radio 4 in 2021.

Her podcast Fortunately, which she hosts with Fi Glover, will also air on the station as part of its "late night schedule," she said.

The announcement was made after Dame Jenni Murray said she would leave the BBC Radio 4 show after more than three decades on the programme.

Garvey said: “It’s been a real privilege to play a small part in the history of this very special radio programme.

“On one unforgettable day, I interviewed David Cameron in the morning, and Mary J Blige in the afternoon. There’s no other job like it.

“But famous people are not the reason people engage with Woman’s Hour. It’s because the programme still talks about the subjects and challenges no one else goes near. I’m very proud of our relationship with the audience and the trust they place in us.”

Speaking on Friday's programme, she told listeners: "I have loved presenting Women's Hour, it has been a tremendous privilege, but I have decided to leave the programme at the end of the year.

"I'm not leaving Radio 4, I'm going to be doing a new interview programme, starting in April of next year and if you are a listener to the Fortunately podcast with me and Fi Glover, somehow or other, that is being allowed to stagger onto the Radio 4 late night schedule, so that will be coming to Radio 4 in the new year as well."

She joked that there was "no time to get maudlin" about her departure as "we can do that in late December."

Garvey joined the BBC back in 1989 as a local radio presenter and was the first voice to feature on Five Live when it launched in 1994.

She joined Women's Hour in 2007.

With reporting by Press Association