A weekly newspaper is staying in the cathedral city that has been its home for 155 years following a local campaign.

Plans by the St Albans-based Herts Advertiser to move to nearby Welwyn Garden City sparked uproar among local politicians who launched a public petition against the idea.

Now the Archant-owned title has announced it is not only staying put, but moving back into city centre offices for the first time in 42 years.

The editorial team will be moving into premises at 35 Market Place this Friday, 9 March, having been operating from offices at Sandridge Park on the outskirts of the city.

Editor Matt Adams said:  “When it was originally mooted that the Herts Advertiser might move out of St Albans and share offices with our sister paper in Welwyn, the overwhelming strength of public feeling in opposition to this move prompted us to seek out new premises in the city centre.”

“In these challenging days for the newspaper industry it is almost unprecedented for a title to move into city-centre premises and it is a mark of faith in the product that this has not only been supported but positively encouraged.

“The Herts Advertiser has a passionate local readership who want to know their newspaper is being produced by reporters living and working in the community, and this move truly cements our position as the leading paper for the St Albans district.

“We look forward to a new era of news coverage back where we belong – in the very midst of St Albans life.”

To mark the new era, Matt and the rest of the editorial team took to the streets of St Albans last week for an unusual spot of “guerilla marketing.”

Setting up base on a bright red sofa outside the Town Hall, Matt Adams and his reporters met with members of the public to discuss the move and talk about the newspaper.