Staff at a Somerset weekly sprang into action when a triple killing occurred on their patch – only a few hours after deadline.

A mother and her six-year-old daughter were shot by the woman’s former lover, who then turned the gun on himself in the sleepy village of Horton.

The tragedy took place shortly after Newsquest’s Chard & Ilminster News had gone to print.

But the editorial and newspaper sales teams worked together to produce a special A3 front page, which was inserted into 2,000 copies as the paper hit the streets the following day.

Managing director Vincent Boni said: “It was an outstanding effort.

“Everyone involved can be truly proud of the way they refused to miss out on the biggest story on the paper’s patch in years.”

In this week’s issue of the News, an appeal fund is being launched to provide a permanent memorial for the dead woman and her daughter.

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