Newsquest has launched the Durham Times, a new weekly paid-for paper for Durham City.

The broadsheet hit the streets for the first time on Friday and is edited by Malcolm Warne, who is also in charge of sister title the Darlington & Stockton Times.

He said there was room for a quality paid-for paper dedicated to Durham City, despite Newsquest's other interests in the area - the daily Northern Echo and weekly free Durham Advertiser.

He said: "What we are doing is layering the market - we think the market is there for a paper which covers Durham in detail and in-depth and that is what the Times will do.

"The Echo is a regional daily which contains editionalised pages which serve a wider area which includes Durham City, and the Advertiser is a free which means by definition the amount of editorial is limited."

To promote the launch of the Durham Times thousands of copies are being distributed free in the city for the first two weeks.

Following that it will be on sale every Friday for 30p.

It will contain news, sport, features and advertising solely for Durham.

Much of its content will be unique while some will also appear in the Echo and Advertiser, and is being produced by a reporting team in Durham City which provides copy for all three newspapers.