More than 50 new jobs are to be created in Reach plc’s plan to run regional news titles covering every county in England and Wales.

The publisher has announced it will launch ‘Live’ news websites for Norfolk, Suffolk, Dorset, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire this year – all areas traditionally served by rival publishers.

In addition, the company is also set to launch new digital brands covering Brighton, Darlington, North Devon, Weston-super-Mare and Rutland by the end of the year.

Reach says the move will create more than 50 journalism jobs in a new recruitment drive, with its MyLondon title also taking on five new editorial staff.

The majority of the roles will be homeworking and Reach will “encourage applicants from anywhere in the relevant county”.

The company says the move to “blanket English and Welsh coverage at the local level” is key to its customer value strategy, which has now brought on more than six million registered customers in just over a year.

Lloyd Embley, Reach editor-in-chief, said: “Over the past 18 months, we’ve significantly ramped up the number of new sites we’ve launched as part of our Live network, many in areas where we don’t have established print titles.

“Thanks to our transformation of editorial operations last year and underpinned by our customer value strategy which ensures we build deeper relationships with our readers, we have created a sustainable model for digital-only local journalism.

“The reaction to 2020’s launches from new readers has been overwhelmingly positive, giving us the confidence to complete the whole map of England and Wales by the end of this year.

“This is incredibly exciting and further strengthens our position as the leading news publisher in the UK with an unparalleled ability to engage audiences through both our national and regional journalism.”

Additional roles have also opened up in Somerset, Devon, Lincolnshire and at Football.London as part of the increased investment in the regional Live network.