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Welsh language local weekly to become a supplement

The last Welsh language local weekly newspaper is to cease publication in its current form.

Yr Herald will be published for the last time as a stand alone publication on February 25 – but will continue to appear as a supplement in its siter title, the Daily Post.

MPs have condemned the move by parent company Trinity Mirror and, in an early day motion tabled by Hywel Williams, have urged the publisher to review its decision.

The parliamentary petition said the move would “bring to an end the Herald’s glorious and radical 150 year history of serving the Welsh-speaking community of north west Wales and Caernarfon’s even longer tradition of newspaper publishing in the Welsh language”.

Covering Anglesey and north Gwynedd, Yr Herald is currently published every Saturday and includes a mix of news, sport and features, all published in Welsh.

But poor sales have led to a decision to transform the paper into an eight-page supplement, which will appear in Welsh Daily Post from March 2.

A spokesman for Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales said: “Yr Herald currently sells just 1,300 copies a week and has been loss-making for some time.

“Bringing it into the Welsh Daily Post will revitalise the paper by adding new content, preserving the best of existing content and massively expanding both its readership and distribution area. As part of the Post it will reach a weekly audience of 110,000.

“Far from bringing the history of Yr Herald to an end, this move enables its survival.”

No jobs will be lost. The paper’s one full-time member of staff will produce the supplement.