Communities that lost their historic newspapers have now been hit by the closure of the titles’ companion websites too.

The sites of the Belper News, Ilkeston Advertiser and Ripley & Heanor News have been absorbed by that of the Derbyshire Times, publisher JPIMedia has confirmed.

The move comes after the three weeklies were among 14 JPIMedia news titles to lose their own standalone print editions in September last year.

As a result, they became part of the Chesterfield-based Times.

The Derbyshire Times incorporated the Belper News, Ilkeston Advertiser and Ripley and Heanor News last year

It is understood the three sites were taken down on 4 November.

The three Derbyshire titles have retained Facebook pages bearing their names, but they mostly feature links to stories published on JPIMedia’s NationalWorld site.

The Twitter accounts of Belper News, Ilkeston Advertiser and Ripley & Heanor News have not been updated since March, April and June respectively.

Their profiles instead advise readers to follow the Derbyshire Times for updates.

A JPIMedia spokeswoman told HTFP: “Belper, Ilkeston and Ripley print titles have been consolidated within the Derbyshire Times print edition for some time, so the digital footprint now mirrors that in print.”