A team of young newshounds will be on hand to help the Leicester Mercury fill its news pages from next month, as part of a scheme to develop community links.

The Pathfinder scheme is a city-wide project aimed at encouraging young people from different parts of Leicester to get together through media, sport and drama.

And the Mercury has teamed up with Leicester City Council to help deliver the media part of the scheme, recruiting 20 young people who will report on their own communities.

They will each get an introduction to print journalism and provide extra pairs of "eyes and ears" for the newspaper.

The team will also get the chance to meet reporters, learn about the newspaper business and file their own stories.

Mercury community news editor Jim Matthews, who co-ordinates the team, said: "This project will give all the young people an introduction to journalism.

"Although we will not be training them as journalists, we hope that the experience will stand them in good stead for the future - as well as helping them get to know people from across the city and work with its communities."