Journalist and broadcaster Kirsty Lang will be the new host of BBC Radio 4’s long-running quiz show Round Britain Quiz.

The new series will once again test teams from across the UK with cryptic questions drawn from unpredictable fields of knowledge when it returns to the air on March 28.

The show has been presented by Tom Sutcliffe for the past 14 years and, the BBC said, is the longest running radio quiz show in the UK.

Lang said: “Having reported from many parts of the world, I’m aware that few countries love quizzes more than Britain.

“We are a nation of quizzers and Round Britain Quiz is the doyenne.

“I’m both honoured and daunted by the prospect because it is fiendishly difficult as well as being wonderfully entertaining.”

Lang was a regular presenter on Radio 4’s arts and culture programme Front Row for 18 years, and before that was a news reporter and foreign correspondent, appearing on various BBC news shows including Today, World At One and The World Tonight.

Earlier in her career, she was a correspondent for The Sunday Times and presented for Channel 4 News.

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Radio presenter Kirsty Lang will take over the role from Tom Sutcliffe (PA)

During the show, she will pose questions, including those based on ideas sent in by listeners, to contestants.

During Sutcliffe’s time at the helm, the show was recorded from various locations across the UK including the Scottish Borders, County Antrim, Bath, North Yorkshire, Rutland, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

He took over the role from the late broadcaster Nick Clarke, who hosted the quiz show from 1997 until his death in 2006.

Sutcliffe became a regular presenter for Front Row alongside Samira Ahmed last autumn.

The new series is due to return on March 28.