Newsquest launches new Bucks Free Press edition to cover areas abandoned through Reach title closures

Newsquest is launching a new edition of the Bucks Free Press to provide news to Buckinghamshire towns and villages abandoned by Reach as it closes newspapers covering the area.

The new edition will ensure Amersham, Chesham and Little Chalfont are “still represented”. It will be published for the first time on 8 February.

Reach revealed last week that it is closing the Buckinghamshire Examiner & Advertiser, blaming “a continued decline in local print advertising” that its said meant “some print titles have become unsustainable”.

This week will see the paper’s final edition printed, alongside the last from the Harlow Star and Herts and Essex Observer titles.

Newsquest has stepped in to fill the gap in Buckinghamshire, promising to cover “all the usual latest news, politics, health, education, crime, entertainment, opinions, nostalgia, property, motors and sport”.

The publisher also claimed the new title will have more pages and be 40p cheaper than the Examiner & Advertiser.

Newsquest’s group editor for Bucks & Berks, Andrew Colley, said: “This is an extremely exciting time for our team and the wider community.

“The Bucks Free Press has served our loyal readers for more than 160 years and this decision will hopefully prove our commitment to the Buckinghamshire area.

“Following the sad news of the closure of the Advertiser & Examiner, we knew it was important to continue their work and ensure people of Amersham, Chesham and Little Chalfont were still represented.”

According to the latest ABC figures for January to December 2017, the two editions of the Bucks Advertiser and Examiner have a combined circulation of 3,786. Between July and December 2002 (its highest recorded circulation on viewable ABC figures) this was at 18,855.

In 2017 the Bucks Free Press had a circulation of 10,704, according to ABC. Its highest circulation viewable on the ABC portal is 27,359, for January to June 2002.

Bucks Free Press was named Weekly Newspaper of the Year (below 15,000 circulation) at the Regional Press Awards last year.