A free newspaper will be launched for a market town on the back of a hyperlocal website set up earlier this year.

Macclesfield Today will be launched next week as a fortnightly newspaper, which is set to become weekly in January, following the creation of the Cheshire Today news website.

The new title will be aimed at those interested in art, literature, fashion, politics and sport and will be distributed free in selected areas, while it will also be available in the town centre.

It will go up against the paid-for Macclesfield Express, which is owned by Trinity Mirror and had a circulation of 10,534 when the last ABC figures were released in February.

The reverse-publishing venture is being led by editor Martin Regan, who told readers of Cheshire Today that he hoped it would bring something new to the publishing industry.

He said: “We are aiming for a newspaper which has the same type of content as a serious national newspaper, though of course, most of its content will be local.”

Cheshire Today was launched earlier this year with the belief that existing local newspapers and websites “do not cater for a significant minority of the population”.

The website claims to have more than 200,000 users a month.

Areas the new newspaper will be delivered to include Bollington, Gawsworth, Prestbury, Poynton, Langley and Rainow and readers will also be able to subscribe.

It is understood that further printed publications are being planned on the back of Cheshire Today.