A Midlands paper launched in the wake of Trinity Mirror closing the local free weekly is understood to have ceased publication little over two months after it first went to press.
The Burton Trader, which was reborn in October as the free weekly Independent Trader, has not been seen in Burton on Trent since just before Christmas.
Sources with knowledge of the title told Press Gazette the Independent Trader had been forced to close because of financial and organisational difficulties.
The original Trader ceased publication and was closed last summer as Trinity Mirror shut nine weekly papers across the Midlands leading to the loss of around 90 jobs.
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The Independent Trader was then launched in October last year after local businessman, Chris Clark, decided to fund the title.
Clark, who had been a frequent advertiser in the Burton Trader prior to its demise, acted as both managing director and editor of the new paper.
He was joined in the launch by a handful of the original staff from the Burton Trader with the intention of running the Independent Trader from offices in Burton on Trent and distributing for free in the Burton Trader’s old catchments of Burton and South Derbyshire.
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All phone lines for the Independent Trader are currently suspended and despite several attempts Press Gazette has been unable to make contact with Clark.
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