The Citizen in Gloucester has brought forward its edition times in a bid to increase sales.

Readers of the Northcliffe-owned title can now pick up a copy of the paper from 8.15am. Its first edition had previously been printed at 9.40am.

Editor Ian Mean says the change is in response to changing patterns in readership.

He told HoldtheFrontPage: “More people are buying a paper earlier in the day. More newspapers are being sold in garages and supermarkets and it is a 24-hour cycle.

“Basic research has told us that if the paper is available earlier in the day then you will sell more – but this is a slow burner, not an overnight transformation.”

Four editions of the paper will still be printed each day, with the second and third serving Stroud and the Five Valleys and the Forest of Dean respectively.

A city final will then be printed at the earlier time of 10.30am.

The new time is flexible, with its Staverton print works offering the option to print later – as it did last week when coverage of the London bombings was included in an edition printed at 12.30pm.