The Wakefield Guardian and Pont and Cas Guardian have been greeted with a “fantastic” response and indications are that they have sold well in their first week, according to editor Ben Pindar.

The sister weeklies hit the streets for the first time on May 3, with a second issue out yesterday, giving Wakefield, Pontefract and Castleford the first paid-for weekly titles to be launched in the area for more than 50 years.

In total 30,000 copies of the first issue of the papers had been printed.

Ben told HoldtheFrontPage that the majority of small retailers had sold out, and indications were that there were very few returns.

He also said that the response from readers and advertisers so far had been far better than anticipated.

He said: “I’ve been involved with launches before and they can be quite slow to get off the ground.

“But a lot of people have been coming through the door with material for us and have been giving us positive feedback.”

In addition, website www.wakefieldguardian.co.uk has gone live, allowing people to browse the papers in full, free, online.

The new launches are the brainchild of former South Yorkshire Newspapers managing director Terry Johnson, now owner and MD of WPC Media.

The company is based in offices in Pontefract, where the newspapers’ team were busy promoting the launch last weekend, handing out free copies in the town centre.