Trinity Mirror has begun a roll-out of new-look websites across its regional titles with the Birmingham Mail’s the first to go live.

The Mail has launched its revamped website on a new content management system, with a new design which has been devised in consultation with users.

Birminghammail.net now boasts built-in live blog technology, better presentation of picture galleries and video and a new hyperlocal section called In Your Area, which will build on the work of the Birmingham Mail Communities team.

It is the first of Trinity Mirror’s websites to get the new look but the rest of its regional titles are set to follow in the coming months.

Mail editor David Brookes said: “We’re delighted with the new site which we are confident will be popular with our users.

“The Mail site has grown rapidly in recent years and this new design will enable us to showcase more of what we do and help users find the content they want more quickly.”

Group digital publishing director David Higgerson added: “The new Mail site looks brilliant and is a credit to everyone who has worked on it.

“The new technology allows us to focus on getting news and information to users fast, using a wide range of tools to create strong, multimedia stories.”

The new site, which is also available in mobile format, has been designed by Chris Lam, Trinity Mirror’s regional senior web designer, after feedback showed that people did not realise how often current sites were updated and the range of content available.

It  shares the same technology as the new mirror.co.uk and Dailyrecord.co.uk sites, so the publisher’s regional and national sites will be able to benefit from future improvements at the same time.

Digital product director Malcolm Coles said: “As more and more sites come on to the new platform, we’ll start to see increasing benefits from the common approach we’re taking.

“Unlike the previous patchwork of older technologies that made up our sites, we’ll be able to roll out new functionality instantly to all sites on the new platform. It shows how, by working as One Trinity Mirror, we can bring great new content and functionality to our customers.”

A restructure by Trinity Mirror last week saw the head of its regional division Georgina Harvey leave the company with its national and regional titles brought together as One Trinity Mirror under Mark Hollinshead.