A new free newspaper for the Chester area is launching this week.

The Midweek Chronicle is a new sister title for the paid-for Chester Chronicle, which will distribute 60,000 copies.

It replaces the former free title the Chester Mail and will have a higher editorial ratio than its predecessor. It will also benefit from the brand extension of the paid-for paper, which was voted the Best Weekly Newspaper in the North of England 2005 by the Newspaper Society. Its sister title the Mold and Buckley Chronicle was also winner of the Best Weekly Newspaper in Wales and the South West of England category in the same awards.

It will have a strong focus on local community news and exclusive editorial content, aimed at driving reader traffic throughout the paper.

The focus on advertiser needs means that the paper will offer later deadlines and Wednesday publication to be delivered before its rivals.

John Griffith, managing director of Trinity Mirror Cheshire and North Wales, said: "The Chester Chronicle is one of the oldest and greatest weekly newspapers in the country.

We will reach more homes than any other title in Chester with a bigger and better free newspaper worthy of the Chronicle name."