A weekly newspaper gave a byline to a freelance journalist who provided it with copy after she complained to the press watchdog.

The Western Telegraph credited Nicola Lund following her complaint about a story based on the release she had sent to the paper.

Ms Lund had sent the Telegraph a statement about ‘Keep it Cash’, a group protesting in Haverfordwest against the idea of a cashless society.

In a complaint to the Independent Press Standards Organisation, she claimed the resulting story should not have been attributed to the paper’s Facebook community reporter without any acknowledgement of her contribution.

The Telegraph subsequently amended the byline to jointly credit Ms Lund, although it did not consider there had been a breach of the Editors’ Code of Practice.

Complaining to IPSO under Clause 1 (Accuracy), Ms Lund justified her claim to a byline by saying she had drafted the original version of the story and had sent it to the publication.

She also said she had been wrongly identified as a woman who was pictured in a photograph she had submitted with the release.

In response, before amending the byline, the Telegraph said it considered the submission from Ms Lund to be a press release, and that it was usual practice for reporters to “re-work” such statements and publish them under their names.

It said the miscaptioned photograph was a mistake that had been rectified within two days.

After IPSO launched an investigation into the issue, the Telegraph offered to publish an apology about the photo error.

Ms Lund said this would resolve the matter to her satisfaction, and IPSO therefore discontinued its investigation.

The full resolution statement can be read here.