Patrick Cescau to step down from Tesco board - Times

LONDON (Reuters) - Tesco's senior independent director Patrick Cescau plans to resign from the board of the troubled British retailer next year, The Times newspaper said on Wednesday.

Cescau, who has been at Tesco since Feb 2009 and is also non-executive chairman of InterContinental Hotels Group, will leave Tesco once he has led the search for a new chairman to replace Richard Broadbent.

Tesco were not immediately available for comment.

The departure of Cescau, who had been linked as a possible replacement for Broadbent, would be the latest of many at Tesco following an accounting scandal and succession of profit warnings.

Citing Cescau's friends, the Times said Cescau believed Tesco's new chief executive, Dave Lewis, would benefit from a new team around him to lead the group through a turnaround.

Broadbent said on Oct. 23 that he planned to step down as chairman.

(Reporting by Neil Maidment; Editing by Greg Mahlich)