Rachel Townsend[1] (née Phillips) is a journalist, news reporter and relief presenter for ITV news programme Granada Reports.[2] Up until mid-2008 she worked as a reporter and presenter for ITV news programme Calendar [3] but due to ITV regional news cutbacks she was relocated to Granada based in Manchester. However, she is originally from Liverpool and not Yorkshire.[4] As of 2014, Townsend splits her time between Granada Reports, and ITV News Calendar (technically marking her return to Calendar).
Townsend had not been on-air since September 2014. But she eventually returned to Granada Reports as a stand-in presenter on 1 December 2015. As of 2017 she frequently files reports for Granada Reports.