A regional daily has published a striking front page made up of 1,200 pictures to launch a campaign to save maternity services at a local hospital.

The North West Evening Mail published a front page on Saturday which was comprised of 1,200 images of local people’s faces, made into a mosaic of a baby’s face.

The unusual splash marked the start of a campaign to save maternity services at the local hospital after it emerged they had been moved without consultation.

It came at the end of the week in which the Evening Mail was relaunched with a new look and more news and sports pages. 

The idea for the mosiac picture came from a number of editorial team members including chief sub Fraser Robertson, his deputy Pete Mossop and picture desk administrator Jayne Cargan.

Deputy Editor James Higgins said: “We were committed to putting real pressure on the local health trust to sort the maternity services debacle as soon as possible, but were struggling with a way to project it on the front page that didn’t involve the usual stock pictures.

“That’s when we came up with the idea of using images of local people who were backing a campaign to save the maternity services, along with the headline “Hear our voices”.

“As the day progressed, we decided to put some software to use which can manipulate images into mosaics, using a bank of selected pictures. The result was a very striking front page courtesy of Pete Mossop.”

The edition also included an editorial spread on pages two and three by health correspondent Emma Preston and it was praised by readers.

These included Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock, who took to Twitter to write: “Today’s @eveningmail shows why Britain needs local papers. Amazing.”

Campaigners now want to use the front page as a poster which can be displayed in windows.

The publicity campaign for the paper’s relaunch is also underway, with billboards around the town and radio adverts.

James added: “There is a renewed sense of pride in our flagship product. The fact the company is willing to invest in our hard work and efforts is a real morale booster.”