A south coast daily has launched a new free feature aimed at helping its readers get back to work in the wake of the economic downturn.

The Southern Daily Echo's new 'Sell Yourself' section gives unemployed people the chance to showcase their skills to tempt local companies into offering them an interview.

Echo editor Ian Murray said: "The most important point is that the articles let readers who are looking for work sell themselves.

"It's not so much a CV as the chance for readers whatever their age or background, whatever their skills base and experience, to push themselves forward and let employers know they are there.

"We are restricting the free service to anyone who is unemployed or has been made redundant rather than those just looking to move posts.

"We realise that this won't change the fact there are only so many job vacancies out there, but it will hopefully give someone out of work the chance to showcase their skills. In the end it all helps.

"This isn't a CV service but we are linking the features to our 'Your CV Match' feature on our web site."

The Sell Yourself items will run in the Daily Echo's recruitment sections each Thursday and Saturday and the paper is considering a daily spot if there is the demand.

Last week the Sunderland Echo launched a similar campaign called 'Keep Wearside Working' and invited local companies to submit job adverts for free.