Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Newsquest Scotland publishes 21 titles including The Herald, Evening Times and The National

The editors of The Herald and Evening Times newspapers are to leave their posts.

Graeme Smith, who became The Herald's 27th editor a year ago, and Graham Shields, Evening Times editor since April 2016, will quit on 22 December.

Newsquest-owned Herald & Times Group said current editor-in-chief, Donald Martin, will take responsibility for editing both titles.

Newquest Scotland's 21 titles include the Sunday Herald and The National.

The latest departures follow a fourth round of job cuts at the Glasgow-based titles, where dozens of reporters have been axed in recent years.

In 2015, then editors of the Sunday Herald and Evening Times, Richard Walker and Tony Carlin also quit.

It is understood that Newsquest has been carrying out a review of salaries and positions within the group.

Mr Smith and Mr Shields have 17 and 19 years of service respectively with the company.

Editor-in-chief Donald Martin said both editors had been "excellent ambassadors for their respective titles, and they leave behind a solid platform for a new executive team to build on".

He added: "As part of the changes we will be creating a new combined role of Editor of our digital brand HeraldScotland.com and Deputy Editor of The Herald. In addition, we will be recruiting a Deputy Editor to take day to day operational responsibility for the Evening Times.

"We have a superb team and I look forward to working closely with them as we rise to the challenges of delivering compelling, unique content for our audiences.

"Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank them both for their significant contributions to the company over many years, and I wish them every success in the future."