YORK TV presenter Clare Frisby is being axed from her role as the face of Look North's East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire edition.

The BBC has announced that Look North veteran Peter Levy is to front a new edition of the programme for East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire with former GMTV's U.S. correspondent Helen Morton, who is returning to her roots from New York.

The news comes only a year after Ms Frisby, who worked at BBC Radio York for four years, was ousted from her position alongside co-presenter Harry Gration in the regional news programme's Leeds studio to make way for ITV defector Christa Ackroyd.

Colin Philpott, head of regional and local programmes for BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, said in a statement: "Clare Frisby currently presents the local bulletins for East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire from Hull and has done a great job establishing the new service. We very much hope that she will remain part of the Look North presentation team as there will be new opportunities. We hope to make some announcements about the various changes shortly."

Staff within the BBC were told of the changes on Friday in an internal email, details of which were leaked to the Evening Press.

The BBC's official announcement followed contact from the newspaper.

The BBC said it would be looking for new presenters for Peter Levy's mid-morning programme on BBC Radio Leeds and for the breakfast and lunchtime editions of Look North.

Clare, who won the BT News Broadcaster of the Year award for the North East and Yorkshire region in 1998, read politics at Hull University before joining the BBC as a news trainee.

She spent four years at BBC Radio York before moving to Look North in Leeds as a presenter.

Updated: 12:39 Monday, July 22, 2002