Former Eastbourne Herald editor Peter Lindsey is returning to edit a rival newspaper on his old patch some six years after being made redundant.
The Eastbourne Independent is being launched by Newsquest on Friday and will compete with Johnston Press weeklies the Eastbourne Gazette and Eastbourne Herald.
Newsquest publishes The Argus in nearby Brighton. The new launch comes two months after Johnston Press bought the Brighton and Hove Independent and began competing on Newsquest’s patch.
Lindsey left when the job of Eastbourne editor was made redundant and Johnston instead opted to have one group editor for Eastbourne and Hastings.
Nowadays Johnston Press has one editor for the whole of Sussex editing weekly titles in Chichester, Haywards Heath, Hastings, Bexhill, Rye, Battle, Eastbourne and elsewhere in the county.
The new Eastbourne title will be distributed in supermarkets and other outlets with a free distribution of 13,500 copies
Newsquest group editor for Sussex Mike Gilson said: ”The Argus has always covered Eastbourne as part of its county-wide service but the Eastbourne Independent will get right down into the community, reporting on what is important and celebrating local life.
“In Peter Lindsey we have the ideal journalist to do this. He knows the town and surrounding area like the back of his hand.”
Lindsey said: “I will be putting my heart and soul into this new paper. I will be reporting on the news as well as being actively involved in the community – just as I was when editor before.
“Eastbourne is a wonderful place, full of wonderful people, and it will be a privilege to be able to communicate and interact again with the public in this way.”
According to Jicreg, the Eastbourne Gazette, which is published on a Tuesday by Johnston Press, has a weekly circulation of just over 2,000 in Eastbourne. The Johnston Press Eastbourne Herald is said to have a circulation of just under 13,000 in the town.
Eastbourne has a population of just over 100,000.
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