A family-owned weekly newspaper is set to be published in full colour for the first time as part of a relaunch.

The Teesdale Mercury will also witch to being printed in compact form from Wednesday, while an online subscription service is also set to start.

The new-look paper will increase to 32-pages to make more space for community news, while a fortnightly property section will also feature.

The Barnard Castle-based title, which is owned by Lord Barnard and operated by his daughter Carolyn Vane, currently employs 40 staff.

Editor Trevor Brookes with the new-look Teesdale Mercury

A family-run print business will print the new colour issues and the existing printworks in Barnard Castle will be retained for commercial activity.

Last year the paper celebrated its 160th anniversary.

Editor Trevor Brookes said: “A great deal of effort has gone into the new look to retain the unique character that our loyal readers enjoy so much.

“It will now be easier to handle, contain much more content, including news and features, and the colour format will increase its vibrancy and please our advertisers.

“We are blessed at the Teesdale Mercury with a solid core readership, which appreciates our efforts in reporting news at the grassroots level.

“While many regional newspapers are suffering from a decline, our readers have remained loyal because they realise that no other media does it quite like we do.

“As well as remaining popular with our more mature members of the community, we also appeal to young families who want to know what is going on in Teesdale.”