The recently launched Cambridge Independent is among 15 local news publishers understood to have qualified to bid for a share of 150 “local democracy reporters” paid for by the BBC.

The scheme is part of the BBC’s Local News Partnership, into which the corporation has claimed it will invest up to £8m a year for the next 11 years.

It aims to plug the so-called “democratic deficit” said to have resulted from staffing cuts across regional publishers that have hampered their ability to report on the actions of local authorities.