Newspapers in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire look set to benefit from a Newsquest investment in a new printing press, capable of producing 96 full-colour tabloid pages at 75,000 copies an hour.

It has ordered a Geoman 75 press from MAN Roland, which is set to be installed at the Osney Mead regional headquarters in Oxford.

The six-unit, double-width web offset press, with two folders, will replace a 32-year-old machine currently operating to meet the printing needs of Newsquest's titles in the area.

They include the Oxford Mail, Oxford Times, Bicester Advertiser and Herald series.

Chief executive Paul Davidson said: "MAN Roland put together a strong proposal and we are looking forward to working with them on this major investment."

Gerd Finkbeiner, chairman of the MAN Roland Group, said: "We are very happy about this mark of confidence we received from such a renowned UK newspaper company."

Newsquest is part of the American Gannett group and publishes more than 300 local newspapers in England and Wales.

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