A regional daily has been recognised by a county council for its work in tackling the issue of loneliness.

Norfolk County Council has awarded the Eastern Daily Press with a quality mark as part of the authority’s In Good Company campaign, a bid to ensure no one in Norfolk spends a day lonely if they do not want to.

A total of 14 other organisations have been awarded the mark so far, including BBC Radio Norfolk.

Council leader Andrew Proctor has paid tribute to both media organisations for their work.

EDP editor David Powles and health correspondent Geraldine Scott

He said: “For so many, they are the dependable and friendly voice keeping people in touch with what’s going on in their local communities.

“We also wanted to recognise the contribution that they have made, since we launched In Good Company, to raise awareness of the problems of loneliness, the enormous amount of work being done to help prevent it, and the need to encourage every one – from businesses to individuals to do more if they possibly can.”

EDP editor David Powles aid: “We’re honoured to have received this recognition from Norfolk County Council. Loneliness and social isolation is a growing problem and therefore something we feature regularly on our pages and websites and will continue to do so.

“Our role is to help tackle this issue by provoking debate, highlighting issues and shouting about the great community work around loneliness that is already going on in this county.”