The paper aims to have 80 up and running by the end of the year, covering every major district in the city.

Each site will cover its patch in unbeatable detail, from the latest local news, to listing local schools and leisure centres, events, doctors' surgeries, cultural attractions and more.

Readers are to be encouraged to upload pictures and videos, make comments on stories and publicise details of their club’s event.

Youth groups and other organisations are also being offered the opportunity to set up their own mini-sites.

All the sites will operate under the Evening Times brand but editor Donald Martin was keen to stress they were for local communities to use.

The paper will also look to recruit local correspondents to help run the sites and will pay tip-off fees for items which make the paper.

Donald said: "No newspaper in the UK has done anything like this in such wide-ranging detail. It's a massive investment in community news and we're delighted to be involved with our readers both in print and now online."

And in a double-page spread in yesterday’s paper, he told readers: "It can’t be stressed too often that these are your sites.

"Whatever is going on will be highlighted on your local site. We’re looking for videos to be uploaded of your local fun-run or youth group's day out as well.

"What we want is for you to put your pictures or videos onto your community website, where people can see them."

The Newsquest title used the resources of its sister internet company s1 on the visuals and also has step-by-step guides on how to upload content to increase its user-friendliness.

The first 12 are spread across the city and the paper says it wants readers to tell them what areas they want to see being added next.

Bodies like the local council, police and health board are also being encouraged to use the sites.

And even before their launch, a teacher at a local school who had been contacted about the sites tipped-off the Evening Times about a story which made the front page of the paper.

Assistant editor Graeme Smith said: "It was a good story about a pupil who had gone up before a council committee to successfully argue against a burger van being allowed to pitch up near the school.

"I think it will only be a matter of time before we get a splash from a tip-off that’s come through one of our sites."

Community news editor Helen Smith, who sits on the paper’s newsdesk, will moderate content and relevant content from the paper will be repackaged for the sites.

As well as a double-page spread in the paper on launch day, a news drive generated several page leads from the areas covered online which were used to separately puff the sites.

The community sites can also be found via the link on the paper's main website www.eveningtimes.co.uk

* The first 12 sites, officially launched today, cover Cardonald, Dennistoun, Easterhouse, Gorbals, Hillhead, Maryhill, Partick, Robroyston, Shawlands, Springburn, Tollcross and Whiteinch. All addresses take the area name eg shawlands.eveningtimes.co.uk

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