The launch last week of the newspapers in Kettering and Corby was marked by a crowd by traditionally dressed news vendors in the two towns, who were on hand to tell local citizens to "read all about it".

The 24-page fortnightly newspapers, called The Kettering Extra and The Corby Extra, were launched after 14 months of research and have a cover price of 50p.

A third paper, The Wellingborough Extra, will be launched on 18 April.

Each newspaper will have a run length of 10,500 and Extra will be offering recruitment advertising and jobs listings free of charge.

Extra’s editor Judith Halliday, a Northamptonshire–based journalist, said: "Extra aims to prove that small and local can be beautiful.

"The local community will be at the heart of each publication. We are committed to bringing positive, good news to communities that have previously been left feeling they no longer have a way of finding out what is going on around them."