James Martin leaves Talbot hotel in Malton

Celebrity chef James Martin is to step down from his role as executive chef of the Talbot hotel in Malton, North Yorkshire.

Martin set up the kitchen at the hotel in April 2012 but both parties are understood to have agreed not to renew his three-year contract when it expired.

The Talbot's director and owner, Tom Naylor-Leyland, said: "James's fantastic contribution to the success of the hotel and restaurant is without measure and I am sure we would not have reached such a strong position without his expertise and advice. It's been a real pleasure working with such a professional and well renowned chef."

He added: "On behalf of everyone at the Talbot I would like to thank James for all his support which has been tremendous. He leaves us with an established hotel and great food offering. We will continue to maintain his ethos of high standards throughout."

"Over the last 3 years we have worked extremely hard on the offer at the Talbot Hotel with amazing success and I look forward to seeing the path it takes in the future."

In addition to his TV work on Saturday Kitchen, Martin still still runs the restaurant James Martin Manchester, as well as gourmet food delivery company Life, Fork & Spoon, and London based picnic and hamper delivery service Picnic2U.

He is also a "food hero" for P&O Cruises alongside Marco Pierre White, Eric Lanlard, Olly Smith and Atul Kochhar.

The Talbot in Malton recently won Small Hotel of the Year Award at the 2014 White Rose Awards, run by Welcome to Yorkshire.