An independent weekly is launching a new sister title to serve one of the United Kingdom’s largest towns – sparking a newspaper circulation battle in the process.

Wokingham Today has announced the launch of Reading Today, which will be published every Wednesday.

The company is set to recruit a new trainee journalist to help with the venture, which will compete with Newsquest weekly the Reading Chronicle.

As well as the Chronicle, Reading is also covered by Reach’s Berkshire Live website, although Reach no longer publishes a print title in the town.

Reading Today will be edited by Wokingham Today founder Phil Creighton, who formerly served as features editor on the now-defunct Reading Post, published by Reach predecessor company Trinity Mirror.

It will go on sale on Wednesdays from 20 October with a cover price of 90p, and will have a companion website which will be updated throughout the week.

Phil, who this month celebrates his 25th year in journalism, said: “We are delighted to launch Reading Today.

“Often when I’m out on stories, people say to me they wished we published a Reading edition. They were envious of the quality journalism we were producing for Wokingham borough.

“We are now able to meet this demand, and have received great support from community leaders who can’t wait for us to launch.

“Reading Today is Reading’s new champion and we can’t wait for the first edition to hit the streets.”