A news website launched by a newspaper’s parent company with the aim of attracting younger readers is to set up a radio station.

WeareBarnsley.com is an independently-run website owned by the Acredula Group, the same company which owns weekly newspaper the Barnsley Chronicle.

Now the site, first set up two years ago, aiming to build on its successes by launching WAB Radio.

According to its main reporter Nicky Hyde, WeareBarnsley.com is aimed at a younger audience than the newspaper and its companion website, barnsleychronicle.co.uk.

Said Nicky: “We have totally different audiences and more instant news which we report straight away when things happen.

“We have 3.6 million hits a month. We are not just a website, we use Youtube, Facebook and Twitter and have a younger demographic.

“Our Twitter is run for 18 hours a day from 6am until midnight. We get to find out about stuff immediately. Our users come to us first.”

Speaking about the launch of the radio station WAB Radio Nicky added: “We thought we’ve got the audience, we’ll take it further.

“I went on BBC Radio Sheffield and was Facebooking and Tweeting while I was on air and lots of people were responding. I got good feedback from the BBC and it gave us the idea. From that we had responses from volunteers who had worked on radio stations before.

“It grew and grew and now we have got a studio, close ties with the football club and have already interviewed local MP’s.”

The station is expected to be launched within the next four weeks.

The Acredula Group Ltd is based in Barnsley and also owns Pen and Sword Books, Wharncliffe Publishing and Yorkshire Web.

Meanwhile, the Chronicle have been running a Why we Love the Chronicle scheme which asks people in the town what they love about the paper.

Some of the responses have been filmed and posted on the paper’s website.