A new weekly paper for commuters has been launched by The Bucks Herald.

The Commuter Herald was due to hit the streets for the first time today, and will be given away free to train passengers using the Aylesbury to Marylebone line every Thursday.

The aim is to introduce new readers to The Bucks Herald by giving a taster of stories from the main paper.

Initially, 5,000 copies of the commuter paper will be available to pick up across seven stations on the Chiltern Railways line.

Editor David Summers said the concept of The Commuter Herald was an exciting one.

He said: "Aylesbury, like many towns, has grown dramatically over the past years, and will do so even more in the future.

"Many of the new people coming to Aylesbury Vale do not have an immediate affinity with their local area, and by introducing The Commuter Herald we can bring The Bucks Herald's brand to a whole new audience of readers."

The first edition of The Commuter Herald has 16 pages in a tabloid format rather than the normal broadsheet of The Bucks Herald, which is on sale every Wednesday.

It combines the concept of a community newsletter with The Five Minute Herald, which is published in the centre of The Bucks Herald to give a snapshot of all the news at a glance.

David said: "The Bucks Herald as a broadsheet is too bulky for passengers to read, so The Commuter Herald should be the perfect format.

"The Commuter Herald is deliberately designed to be a 20-minute read, keeping readers up to date with all the local news and sport, and The Five Minute Herald in the centre pages gives you a snapshot of the week's national and international news, sport and business.

"The Commuter Herald gives a taste of the news featured in our main edition, where we analyse stories in more detail and obviously have more space to cover more issues and news stories.

"There is also a different emphasis on The Commuter Herald, with stories targeted towards rail users, and promoting the positive aspects of living in Aylesbury Vale.

"The launch has been a real team effort involving newspaper sales, advertising and editorial, with some excellent design work by our studio."