ABC figures for regional newspapers were still “vitally important”, but did not give a true indication of a paper’s success, editor Nigel Pickover has said.

Nigel, editor of the Evening Star in Ipswich, said there was still a focus on ABCs because that was where the revenue was, but that the ABC print and a new electronic measure would be the key performance indicator for the future.

He said: “ABC’s are vitally important, they are the measure of how you are performing in print now – readers of the figures can then make their own judgements about the effectiveness of the title in question.

“What will be crucial from now on is the ability to measure a combined print and online audience … in the electronic world many titles’ figures are rocketing.”

The latest ABCs show the Evening Star saw a slight drop in circulation from July to December last year, down 1.5 per cent Monday to Friday and 2.1 per cent Monday to Saturday.

Nigel said this was a good result for the paper, “but not good enough”, and that the performance of its Saturday sports paper had dragged down its overall result because of a “dire year” from Ipswich Town FC.

He said: “Our print offering is roughly 250 copies a night down – but our online audience is many thousands a night up.

“If you combine the two – and de-duplicate any print and online readers – our reach could be said to have rocketed by 20 per cent plus.

“The combined print and online figures are fantastic and a great base for the future.”

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