A local author is celebrating the launch of a new free title which went to print for the first time today.

As previously reported on HTFP, the previously online-only Stroud Times has formed a partnership with fellow Gloucestershire title the Cheltenham Post.

It will be published as a free title with an initial print run of 10,000 across Stroud, Nailsworth, and Stonehouse.

The front page features Jilly Cooper, the former journalist turned best-selling author who started her career working at the Middlesex Independent.

Said Jilly: “I’m really thrilled, well done Stroud Times. I’m so excited to see this paper launch.

“We live in such a wild, diverse and amazing area and we need something like Stroud Times to celebrate and gather us together. Stroud is lovely and Stroud Times is the perfect thing.”

Initially, the title was launched as an online-only venture last year by three former Stroud News and Journal colleagues, while the Post started out in print the previous year. 

The Cheltenham title was launched as a free paper by Mark Cuzner, who worked in display advertising for the Gloucestershire Echo before going on to found Cotswold Style and The Cheltonian magazines.