A weekly paper delayed printing for nearly a day to ensure it covered the full story of the April Jones murder trial verdict.

The County Times, which circulates in the Machynlleth area, managed to hit the shops within hours of the sentencing of Mark Bridger to a whole-life jail term for the five-year-old’s murder and abduction.

The NWN Media title usually goes to print at 9.30am each Thursday but this was pushed back by the press centre as time passed, to allow them to have a press slot as soon as the case concluded.

Editor Nick Knight said the paper hit the shops on Thursday evening, hours after the case finished, with the story of the guilty verdict, the moving witness impact statement and the sentencing.

He said: “It was a fantastic effort by our enthusiastic team led by head of news Richard Jones.

“He and assistant head of news Dominic Robertson took it in turns to cover every day of the trial and get background stories so that we could deliver the whole package in one go on Thursday evening, ahead of all the nationals the following morning.

“From the evening that the disappearance of April Jones started breaking, our team has been on the ground covering the story.

“I’ve worked on newspapers for more than 30 years and I have to say the witness impact statement from April’s mum, Coral, brought tears to my eyes.

“It was a superb effort and I’m so proud of my team for what they achieved.”

Nick also praised reporters Naomi Penrose, Bronwen Jones and Barry Jones, sub-editor Barry Hancock and chief photographer Phil Blagg for their roles in getting the paper out.

He added that Gareth Jones, the Mayor of Machynlleth, had written a letter to the paper thanking them for their “sensitive coverage” of the case.