An independent publisher is launching a new title for an area it says is “currently underserved” by local media.

Social Spider Community Interest Company has announced the launch of the Barnet Post, which will be an online-only publication.

Social Spider has pledged to publish a minimum of four new articles per week on the Barnet Post website from February and will also send out a weekly newsletter.

The London Borough of Barnet is currently served by Newsquest’s Watford-based Times series, which publishes a Barnet & Potters Bar edition.

The Post will be edited by Bella Saltiel, pictured, who has worked for Social Spider as a community journalist and researcher since February.

Prior to that, she wrote for titles including Teen Vogue and Novara Media.

In an announcement about the Post’s launch, Bella wrote: “Barnet Post will be a not-for-profit publication, written by and for local people: giving readers the chance to learn more about what is going on in their area and to read (and write) stories about what matters to them.

“It will hold power to account, promote the work of local community organisations and voluntary groups, and provide a platform for local people to raise important issues.”

Social Spider has launched four other titles across London since 2014 – the Waltham Forest Echo, Tottenham Community Press (2016), Enfield Dispatch and EC1 Echo, which covers Clerkenwell and the EC1 postcode area of the capital.

Bella added: “Expanding further across London into Barnet is an exciting opportunity at an important time for local news.

“Local journalism is a vital part of democratic societies and Barnet is an area that is currently underserved by local news publishers.

“Barnet Post will be an inclusive platform aiming to reflect the diversity of the borough and support local communities to tell their own stories.”

HTFP has approached Newsquest for a comment.