John Shires and Gaynor Barnes to leave ITV News Calendar

Two familiar faces who've been on television in the region for more than thirty years, John Shires and Gaynor Barnes are to leave ITV News Calendar next week.  

John Shires joined Yorkshire Television in 1989 and co-presented Calendar alongside Richard Whiteley and has been a regular presenter and reporter on the programme since then.

For the last three decades he has split his time covering both news and sport. 

John's first major story in the region came shortly after he started, when he covered the disaster at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium, in which 96 people died. 

During John's time at ITV in Yorkshire he has presented numerous sports programmes including coverage of Leeds United's UEFA Cup and Champions League campaigns from 1998 - 2005. His work following the region's teams and sports men and women has seen him report from around the world. Closer to home, in 2012 John presented ITV News Calendar's coverage of the London Olympics and in 2014 he was part of the team reporting on Yorkshire's 'Grand Depart', which saw the region host a stage of the Tour de France.

Gaynor Barnes joined Yorkshire Television in 1991 and has worked on many regional programmes including a series which followed the creation of 'The Deep' in Hull. 

Gaynor accompanied its curator to the US, Australia and Fiji to find aquatic life for the new aquarium. 

In 1994 Gaynor teamed up with veterinary surgeon John Baxter for the network series 'It's A Vet's Life', for which she travelled across the UK, to Australia and Singapore.

At home Gaynor was a regular on Yorkshire Television's 'The Tonight Programme', 'With Action Time', and 'Live Lunch'. She also became the voice of 'ITV's Winner Takes All' during 1997.

More recently Gaynor has been a regular presenter of the regional bulletins during ITV's 'Good Morning Britain’ and the main evening edition of 'ITV News Calendar' at 6pm.

The Head of News for ITV News Calendar, Mark Hayman paid tribute to the part John and Gaynor have played during the thirty years they have each worked for ITV. He said: "Their contribution to television in the region has been immense. We know how much our viewers value seeing familiar faces bring them the news each night. John and Gaynor have done that with warmth and authority for many years. We are sad they have decided it's time to leave us, and all of us at ITV News Calendar will miss them, but we wish them both the very best of luck for the future."