A weekly newspaper covering Essex and East London has been re-launched as The Enquirer.

The Essex Courier Series papers made the move in a bid to re-brand their product and emphasise their independence from the big newspaper groups which run other papers in the region.

The Enquirer is taking a more "people-based" approach to stories and has a more tabloid feel to its news.

This week saw the second edition under the new name and masthead, selling some 30,000 copies to readers across the whole of Essex, including a separate edition for East London.

Editor Carol Driver said: "The reason that we re-launched the paper was for a completely fresh and new approach.

"The writing style of the paper is now tabloid and more 'people orientated'.

"We wanted to use a title that people could distinguish as being different to anything else in the area, and even from the first edition we've had a positive response.

"Our main point is that we are independent and not owned by any of the larger organisations that many newspapers belong to now.

"We're governed not by a group thinking but by what we and the readers want."

The paper has almost doubled in size - to 72 pages - and also carries a 16-page entertainment guide with the following week's TV listings.

In the news section readers can find a lot more opinion-based features to give readers a sense of identity with the paper and learn more about its new direction.

Carol, who has been editor for the past two-and-a-half years, said the work was not just on getting the paper out - but with promoting the new name and image around Essex.

She said: "We're running a number of promotions, including adverts on the radio, competitions and opportunities to pick up free copies during the re-launch."

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