The regional press receives too-cursory a glance from doom-mongering, London-centric media experts. So each week we're letting experienced former regional press editor Steve Dyson loose to critique a different regional or local newspaper from across the UK.

You won't know how, where or when he'll taste your splash, assess your courts and council reporting or measure your story counts. All we guarantee is that his unique, detailed analysis of the ink on paper that more than 80pc of British adults still read will appear here, every Wednesday.

Steve Dyson worked in the regional press for 20 years, editing weekly, Sunday and daily newspapers in the North East and the Midlands from 2002 until the end of 2009. To contact him, email steve.dysonmedia@googlemail.com.