Angus Macqueen, Channel 4's head of documentaries, has announced he is leaving the channel.

He had brought titles such as Joe Bullman's Seven Sins of England and Meet the Natives to the channel and oversaw the growth of the Cutting Edge strand.

Macqueen, whose own productions include The Last Peasants and The Death of Yugoslavia, has decided to depart to return to film-making.

His first project will be a feature-length documentary for Channel 4, details of which have not yet been announced.

Channel 4 head of programmes Julian Bellamy commented: "Angus is one of the UK's most distinguished film-makers, and the channel has benefited from his experience and insight."

Macqueen added: "I am proud of what the department has done recently - not least the re-launching of our prime time new talent strand - and excited by a number of the big projects coming through.

"Becoming the gamekeeper has been a fascinating experience - but at heart I am a poacher, and the lure of making films has just proved too strong."

His deputy Simon Dickson will act as caretaker in the role while a successor is appointed.