Rival publishers have struck a deal to merge two weekly newspapers covering the Scottish Highlands into one title, saying “technological and economic changes” in the region were behind the merger.

The Lochaber News, owned by Scottish Provincial Press (SSP), and Oban Times, published by Wyvex Media both cover Lochaber, a large rural part of the Scottish west Highlands region of Scotland.

But from next month the News will fold and become part of a new northern edition of the Times, which will carry the words “incorporating the Lochaber News” on its masthead.