A weekly newspaper which campaigned for its patch to be given its own version of Monopoly has been granted a square on the board.

The Stratford Herald helped Stratford-upon-Avon get its own version of the popular board game after encouraging readers to vote for the town in a public ballot held by manufacturer Winning Moves UK.

Stratford faced competition from places such as Shrewsbury, Warwick, Leamington and Gloucester, but eventually won the race by just 1pc of the overall vote.

The Herald will occupy the square held by Fleet Street on the traditional London version of the game.

The Herald will occupy the ‘Fleet Street’ space on the Stratford edition of Monopoly

Editor Amanda Chalmers said: “From the moment, earlier this year, that we heard Stratford was in the running for its own Monopoly board, the Herald was quick to respond.

“We launched a campaign for readers to register their votes and, with their support we saw off the competition from five other Midlands towns, including my own town of Warwick, in a close race to the finish, finally winning the game rights.

“Since then we learned that we were to be given our own square on the board – the one normally occupied by the Fleet Street – which is an incredible honour. But then the Stratford Herald is a big part of the town’s history so it’s fitting that we feature on this iconic game board.

“We can’t wait for the Stratford Monopoly to come out in October and we know it will prove a big hit with local people. It’s win win.”