Newsquest Media's network of local websites is celebrating record audience figures following an independently-verified audit to be published this week.

ABCe found that the 164 online portals for the group's local and regional newspaper brands attracted over 5.1 million unique users and 53.7m page impressions in April.

"Since our first published audit in 2005 we have consistently improved our online penetration of the towns, cities and communities we serve with our local media brands" said Roger Green, managing director of Newsquest Digital Media.

"We are delighted yet again to be able to demonstrate fantastic growth in unique users, thanks to a combination of the continued development of our network of local media brand websites, understanding what local audiences want, and the significant effort shown by our local teams in delivering 24/7 news, sport, local information and classified content to audiences."

He added: "With a series of enhancements planned throughout this summer we expect considerably to increase the power of that interaction in all possible formats: print, online and mobile."

"It's more than just growing numbers: we have broadened our reach to more local audiences by attracting a younger, more affluent crowd from higher-income households than are typical for newspaper readers."

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