A regional daily’s editor has reaffirmed the title’s commitment to a part of its patch where a rival newspaper was launched last week.

Manchester Evening News editor-in-chief Darren Thwaites has said Reach plc’s commitment to serve Salford remains “as strong as ever” after new figures revealed the publisher was reaching nine of 10 people in the city in print and online.

According to the MEN, audience data from JICREG True Local shows 89 per cent of Salford every month through the its print and digital editions, as well as the Salford Weekly News and Reach’s other Manchester print titles.

Publication of the figures comes after Newsquest’s new paid-for weekly the Salford City News hit the streets for the first time on Friday.

Darren, pictured, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that our audience reach in Salford is so high. It’s incredible to think that for every 10 local customers that walk into a Salford business, nine of them will consume our media each month.

“But I’m not surprised it’s so high. These are brands that people love and trust. We’ve been publishing in Salford for more than 150 years.

“Our chief reporter Neal Keeling has been writing about Salford life for 32 of those years. Our commitment to serve and champion our local communities remains as strong as ever.

“We’ve got the biggest audience of any UK publisher outside London and we’re keen to capitalise on that market-leading position throughout 2020.”

According to the JICREG results, the MEN reached 84pc of the population of Greater Manchester in total each month.