Newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky is to leave her job at Channel 5 at the end of the year.

The presenter, reportedly one of the highest paid in Britain, has been part of the channel’s news team since February 2008.

Prior to that she worked at the BBC, where she was the third woman to present the flagship Ten o’Clock News programme.

Her departure is one of a number of changes being made by Jewish media mogul Richard Desmond, who bought Channel 5 in July.

Ms Kaplinsky, 38, is the daughter of a South African Jewish economics professor,

Her big break came on youth chat show F2F, which she co-hosted with Sacha Baron Cohen.