The free title, available on newsstands and delivered directly to homes, will be published monthly with a focus on local news and features, covering everything from business to the Hull City football squad.

Printed by Horncastle-based Mortons Print, the first issue ran at 32pp and landed in early December.

The paper will run alongside The Hull Story website, launched by co-editors Simon Bristow and Rick Lyon in 2020.

Bristow and Lyon, both experienced local journalists, said the time was right to launch a paper edition.

Bristow said: “Print still has a vital role to play in local news and the newspaper and website will complement and enhance each other as we strive to reach all communities in our great city.”

He added that it was a proud moment for both of them.

“Like our website, the paper aims to inform, engage, entertain and nourish, and provides an exciting new platform for our content as we continue our work with some of the best writers and photographers in the region.

“As well as wanting to share our content more widely, we’ve launched the newspaper because there’s digital poverty in Hull and not everyone has access to a smart phone or computer. We’ve committed to making it a free title because we want to reach people across the city, whatever their circumstances.

“We’re also aware that in Hull, as in many other cities across the UK, the local media landscape is changing and many traditional outlets are contracting. That’s bad for local communities and bad for local democracy. We believe that local news matters.”

Celebrating the paper’s launch on X, formerly Twitter, Hull City Council leader Mike Ross said: “Absolutely applaud this move by the team.

“Agree with the comment in the article too that the shrinking landscape of local media is bad news for local democracy.”

The Hull Story is funded in part by an online Patron scheme, where readers sign up to support the publication with a monthly subscription of £2.50, in return receiving a regular e-newsletter and access to an editors’ blog.

Lyon said: “The response so far to the launch of the newspaper has been fantastic, both in the communities we serve and across social media.

“We’ve asked the city to get behind us and that’s exactly what it’s doing, which I think shows the demand for a free, quality local title like this in Hull.

“It’s been a great start which we hope to build on over the coming months. We’ve got some exciting plans for the paper and this is just the beginning.”