More than 1,600 of the country’s most fragile newspaper titles are to be saved for the nation thanks to a £5m grant to the Newsplan 2000 Project.

The Lottery cash, from the Heritage Fund, is the largest-ever grant for preservation of part of the UK’s historical record.

Newsplan is a unique partnership between the Heritage Fund, the newspaper industry, and libraries across the UK.

It will save the text of the country’s most fragile and rare local newspapers.

The idea is to preserve and improve access to more than 1,600 local titles all over the country that are in danger of deterioration.

The task involves microfilming some 40,000 volumes of local newspapers to preserve 21m pages of text.

The Rt Hon Baroness Blackstone, Minister of State for the Arts, Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: “Local newspapers are an integral part of local history and culture, providing an incomparable barometer of local opinion over past centuries.

“Often they represent the first-person witnesses to important events. The grant will save a vital part of our nation’s archives allowing historians, students and others access to these documents while preserving them from further deterioration.”

Newsplan 2000 chairman Dr Ann Matheson welcomed the donation and said: “This is a marvelous day for local newspapers.

“Now, with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the UK newspaper industry, and the efforts of libraries across the UK, we can be confident that a priceless part of our history will be saved and will survive for the use and enjoyment of all our citizens.”

Newspaper Society President Edwin Boorman, said: “We welcome the news of this grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which will help to safeguard this country’s most fragile newspapers, many of which are no longer published.

“They form a unique part of the nation’s heritage, which will now be protected for future generations.”

From the early 1830s onwards, newspapers become fragile because elements in the paper on which they are printed react with the atmosphere causing acidification.

This process is accelerated when combined with heavy usage and left in this condition, newspapers will disintegrate and perish.

Newsplan will preserve local newspapers on microfilm which has a life of at least 500 years.

It will also improve access for the public to local newspapers across the whole of the UK by making the microfilmed text available in local libraries in the areas served by each newspaper.

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