³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Anna Foster has been announced as the new Weekend Breakfast co-presenter on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 5 Live and will take up her new role alongside Phil Williams from Saturday 23 April.

Anna has been a regular on 5 Live since 2005 when she joined as a reporter on Weekend Breakfast alongside the presenters at the time, Brian Alexander and Rachel Burden, and has since gone on to become the station's regional reporter in the North East of England.

Hailing from South Shields, Anna studied at Durham University before going on to her first job in radio with ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Cleveland (now ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Tees) in 2002. After moving to 5 live a few years later, Anna also enjoyed a two year stint at Radio 1 Newsbeat, firstly as a reporter and later as the programme's presenter.

In her role as 5 Live's regional reporter, Anna has covered a range of stories from Raoul Moat to the Cumbrian floods and to events at Newcastle United, Sunderland and Middlesbrough. She has also already presented a number of 5 Live programmes including Weekend Breakfast and Drive and brings with her a wealth of broadcasting experience.

Commenting on her new role Anna said: "I'm thrilled to be joining Phil as co-presenter on Weekend Breakfast; we've worked together for quite a while now and have got to know each other really well.

"This really is my perfect job as I have the chance to combine two things that I love, presenting and reporting and I can't wait to get started."

Anna will take over on Weekend Breakfast on 23 April as Rachel Burden prepares to start her new role on 5 Live Breakfast alongside Nicky Campbell on 3 May.

On Rachel's appointment Radio 5 Live's Controller, Adrian Van Klaveren, commented: "Anna has already proved that she's a great journalist and has a warm personality and I think she and Phil will make a great combination each Saturday and Sunday morning.

"Weekend Breakfast is an important programme for us – it's vital for us in reporting the main news stories of each weekend, setting the agenda for the day's sport and capturing the mood of the weekend."

NC