A new free weekly newspaper filled with '60 second news' is being launched by the Leicester Mercury.

The Bradgate Park Advertiser will be published for the first time on Thursday, and hand-delivered to around 7,000 homes. A further 1,000 copies will be available to pick up at retail outlets.

It is being edited by Ian Amos, niche media editor at the Mercury, and copy will come from a variety of sources including an in-house writer, the Mercury and PA.

The tabloid paper will include grassroots news, county-wide news, showbiz, sport and motors news, all written in a short, four or five paragraph '60 second' format.

Ian said: "This means you get a very newsy, high content read.

"We've got a 28-page paper ready to go and we will see how it evolves."

He added: "This is a very different approach and we do feel these areas haven't been getting the coverage they deserve.

"It also opens up new potential advertisers."

The Bradgate Park Advertiser will cover the villages of Newtown Linford, Copt Oak, Swithland, Woodhouse, Rothley, Cropston and Anstey.

Its launch follows that of the Lutterworth and Broughton Advertiser last month, and more launches are expected under the Advertiser brand.

It takes its name from the well-known weekly paid-for Leicestershire Advertiser which the Mercury publishes until the 1970s, and will concentrate on rural areas.

The group also published the free Leicester Mail series, with titles in the urban areas of Oadby and Wigston, Loughborough and Coalville.