Day-to-day responsibility for leading the governing body through its ongoing modernisation process will be taken over by current chairman of the organisation John Graves.

Graves said: "I would like to thank Mike for his contribution to England Athletics and guiding us through to a successful Commonwealth Games.

"In particular Mike has driven and managed the major changes resulting from our re-organisation two years ago and has been instrumental in raising both the profile and the perception of the organisation across the sport.

"We now have to push forward with the next phase of modernisation and focus on maximising the delivery of athletics programmes on the ground while being as efficient as possible.

"Over the coming months we will be working hard to examine the way we operate to ensure we eliminate any duplication and provide the most cost effective services to the sport.

"It will be business as usual for England Athletics as we work with our partners to grow the next generation of champions while at all times ensuring we are an effective governing body that gives the sport real value for money.

"We will continue the drive to ensure bureaucracy and administration is minimised in order to ensure that maximum funds are invested in front line services."