Big changes are on the way for the Buchan Observer which is to have front page news and photos for the first time in its 140-year history.

It is the last weekly paper in Scotland to still have only advertisements on page one.

The new-look paper will be printed for the first time on Monday, November 6.

It’s the second major change this year for the Peterhead paper.

In June, Nic Outterside became editor, replacing George Hutchinson who retired after 15 years in the job.

Nic told HoldTheFrontPage: “George had wanted to change to page one news, but for various reasons it never came about.

“At my interview for the job I mentioned that a former member of staff had told me that there wouldn’t be news on the front page for 1,000 years. Richard Thomson, group managing editor of Community Media Ltd, which owns the Observer, said: ‘Well, we’re into a new millennium so perhaps our 1,000 years has passed’.”

Planning for the big change started in earnest when Nic, former chief investigative reporter with the Aberdeen Press & Journal, was about a month into his time as editor.

This is the third editorship for Nic (44). He edited The Argyllshire Advertiser from 1990-92 and was editor-in-chief of The Galloway Gazette from 1992-94. He has also won awards during his time as a journalist at The Scotsman and the Sunday Sun.