The weekly free Kidderminster Shuttle anticipated the mood of its readers when it planned an eight-page General Election special for an 8am distribution.

The paper is at the heart of Wyre Forest – where Dr Richard Taylor stunned the pundits to romp home as an Independent candidate in protest at cuts in services at the local hospital.

The paper normally has a distribution of 36,000, with 6,000 sold copies.

Election day was the day of publication so the Shuttle/Times & News was delivered as normal.

But an editorial team of five, comprising two reporters, a photographer, sub and editor Clive Joyce, worked through the night to record history being made.

Clive said: “The result came at 2.30am and we had to have the last page electronically off-stone by 6.30am.

“We carried interviews with the winner – and all the losers. We were expecting a shock but not the 18,000 majority that occurred.

“I then drove to our Worcester printers to pick up the first 5,000 copies which were printed alongside the press’s other commitments.”

A total run of 10,000 hit the streets that morning, with readers queuing up for the special edition when it arrived. Most of the 10,000 were snapped up by lunchtime.

The Shuttle/Times & News broke the original story about the Kidderminster Hospital downgrading threat in 1997 and has followed it in great detail ever since.

Click here to read the front page story from the Shuttle/Times & News special edition.

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