A regional publisher has relaunched an online photograph archive on its own standalone platform.

Reach plc has unveiled the new site for Memory Lane, which previously featured as part of its In Your Area hyperlocal news service.

New features on the MemoryLane.co.uk site include more images and an increased ability for people to search for photos by topic as well as location.

Readers are now being asked to add to the group’s archive with their own historic photos.

The project is backed by broadcaster, author and historian Professor Kate Williams, pictured.

She said: “Photographs are one of the most important social documents we have access to, allowing us to understand society and communities from different generations.

“We learn so much more about our past when we look at the photographs of everyday people as opposed to formal photos of royalty and aristocracy.

“If important images languish in the loft, there is a real danger they may be lost forever.”