A conversion from broadsheet to tabloid has seen sales of the Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard rise by seven per cent.

The weekly paper underwent the transformation a month ago, and editor Skip Walker says its new look has been greeted with a favourable response from readers.

She said: "There were a few tears shed when, after 169 years in its old clothing, the new Standard reappeared freshly-dressed on the news stands.

"But after just a month, as the sales figures reflect, grumblings have been few and the majority of advertisers and readers have said how much they like the new format."

The tabloid conversion was made following extensive market research which showed that almost 90 per cent of the Standard's readership would like a smaller-sized paper.

But the paper's team was also keen to ensure that the sense of being a 'serious' paper was maintained.

Skip said: "What we were anxious to avoid at all costs, for fear of driving away our severely traditional readers, was a sense of over-excitement in the new design.

"We now use only two typefaces throughout, Utopia and Franklin Gothic, and plenty of white space to maintain the 'open' feel of the broadsheet, which I think we have achieved, while keeping up the story count.

"We also avoided using the dreaded word 'tabloid' in any of the material promoting the conversion and were pleased when the cash prize offered to staff for a relaunch slogan drew forth 'Better by half'.

"We have brought back traditional aspects of the paper ditched some years ago, notably the Nostalgia page, and expanded the Letters, Community and What's On sections - something our Internet rivals in the county will have difficulty matching."

The Standard's property supplement continues as a broadsheet, folded into the middle of the paper.