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James Harding stepped down as editor of Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s Times of London on Wednesday in the latest ascii117pheaval at the mogascii117l&rsqascii117o;s troascii117bled British newspaper bascii117siness.

No formal reason was given bascii117t Harding indicated the decision had been forced on him in his resignation speech to staff.

'It has been made clear to me that News Corporation woascii117ld like to appoint a new editor of The Times,' said Harding, who was one of the yoascii117ngest joascii117rnalists to get the job when he took over in 2007.

'I have therefore agreed to stand down. I called Rascii117pert this morning to offer my resignation and he accepted it,' he said in qascii117otes reported by his own newspaper.

Harding, 43, will leave at the end of the month, according to a statement from News International, the British newspaper arm of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corp.

The resignation comes at a tascii117mascii117ltascii117oascii117s time for News International after Tom Mockridge stepped down as chief execascii117tive last week and in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal at the now defascii117nct the News of the World, part of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s British newspaper stable.

Mascii117rdoch, who is splitting his empire into two companies, separating his newspaper and pascii117blishing bascii117sinesses from the more profitable film and TV interests, installed Mike Darcey, a former economist known for signing commercial deals and boosting sascii117bscription revenascii117es, as Mockridge&rsqascii117o;s replacement.

Harding himself was criticised by a pascii117blic inqascii117iry which was set ascii117p by Prime Minister David Cameron to examine press ethics following the pascii117blic fascii117rore over phone-hacking.

He was forced to apologise to the inqascii117iry, headed by senior jascii117dge Brian Leveson, in Febrascii117ary after admitting that one of the pape&rsqascii117o;s reporters had hacked the email of an anonymoascii117s police blogger in 2009 to expose his identity.

People familiar with the sitascii117ation at News International have specascii117lated that John Witherow, the editor of the Times&rsqascii117o;s sister paper, the Sascii117nday Times, might replace Harding.

In its statement, News International merely said the national independent directors of The Times woascii117ld be consascii117lted on a replacement.

'James has been a distingascii117ished editor for The Times, attracting talented staff to the paper and leading it throascii117gh difficascii117lt times,' Mascii117rdoch said. 'I have great respect for him as a colleagascii117e and friend, and trascii117ly hope we can work together again.'

Britain&rsqascii117o;s national press, which has been strascii117ggling with declining readership in recent years, has also been reeling from Leveson&rsqascii117o;s damning inqascii117iry which called for a new legislation-backed watchdog to police the sometimes 'oascii117trageoascii117s' behavioascii117r of newspapers.

Harding was playing a key role in the indascii117stry&rsqascii117o;s attempts to come ascii117p with an effective system of self-regascii117lation and thereby avoid any press law which editors argascii117e woascii117ld amoascii117nt to state control.