A North East BBC presenter has been given an emotional farewell by several of his colleagues as he prepares to step down from his role later this week. 

Award-winning news and sports reporter and presenter Jeff Brown will make his final broadcast on Friday (May 24) after 20 years at the regional section of the BBC. 

It was announced earlier this year that Mr Brown would moving on to new opportunities in film and broadcasting after more than two decades with BBC Look North.

In a statement at the time of the announcement, he said: "Presenting BBC Look North - filling the seat once occupied by the great Mike Neville - has been the undoubted highlight of my career, something I could never have imagined when I set out as a journalist.

“It has been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to work with such talented and dedicated teams over the years, and I’m proud to count them as my friends. 

"I’m also truly grateful to the many people and organisations across the North East and Cumbria who have allowed me to tell their stories, and to be welcomed into hundreds of thousands of homes every night. 

He added: “Sport has always been my passion – whatever colour the team is wearing or the shape of the ball! I hope I’ve been able to reflect the depth of feeling fans have for their teams because in that respect our region is unique”.

Mr Brown began his career at the Birmingham Post & Mail, before moving on to The Journal newspaper in Newcastle.

He then spent seven years with ITV Tyne Tees Television, before joining the BBC in 2003.

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Jeff will be undertaking new onscreen projects at the BBC and elsewhere.

In the build-up to his final week, the broadcaster was surprised with a farewell by colleagues Jen Bartram and Dawn Thewlis - who wished him well for the future on BBC Look North on Friday (May 18). 

He posted pictures and a clip of the goodbye on his Twitter - with Mr Brown saying: "Lovely send-off tonight from two fabulous colleagues, Dawn and ⁦@JenBartram.⁩ Totally unexpected. Going to have to toughen up before my last week on Look North."