Weekly title The Cornishman has launched a new edition in a bid to help broaden its readership.

The edition will be focused on the St Ives and Hayle area, just north of the paper’s headquarters in Penzance.

"Launching a new splash edition of The Cornishman is a huge step and underlines our commitment to the patch and to growing our readership,” said editor Jacqui Walls.

“We want the people of St Ives and Hayle to think of The Cornishman as their paper, just as it is seen as the paper for Penzance.”

The latest ABC figures show The Cornishman had an average weekly circulation of 14,736 in the first half of 2012, down 5.9 per cent year on year.