A new chapter in self-regulation for the regional press will begin next month.

Sir Alan Moses, chairman of the Independent Press Standards Organisation, has written to publishers to confirm that the new voluntary body will be launched on Monday, 8 September – officially replacing the Press Complaints Commission.

From that date, complainants to IPSO who raise substantive concerns under the Editors’ Code will be referred directly to publications to resolve their complaints.

Sir Alan, who stressed the need for publishers to now have effective complaints-handling systems in place, said IPSO would provide a form of open and accessible regulation for the benefit of the public and the press.

As an independent regulator, IPSO was committed to maintaining a free and independent press and building public trust in its work, he added.

Most of the regional press have elected to be subject to a regulation which dates back more than 60 years to the original formation of the former Press Council in 1953. The new body is being set up despite its proposed charter being rejected by the Privy Council,

Last year complaints about regional press stories accounted for nearly three in 10 cases investigated by the now-defunct PCC.

Former Leicester Mercury, South Wales Echo and Derby Evening Telegraph editor Keith Perch is the regional press representative on the 12-man board.