A local council has bought a weekly newspaper office to be used as its new headquarters.

The Waterloo Street home of the Weston Mercury and North Somerset Times has been taken on by Weston Town Council to house all of its staff.

The office, in Weston-super-Mare, will also double up as a visitor information centre.

The Grade II-listed building, pictured, which had been the Mercury’s home since 1885, was first put on the market by publisher Archant in May 2020.

Last month Archant revealed it was set to close all but four of its 12 offices in the wake of the post-Covid shift towards home working.

Mercury and Times staff will continue to work from home as a result of the changes, with Exeter the company’s closest office to Weston-super-Mare.

The redesigned Waterloo Street building will also include a community meeting space.

Weston’s town clerk Malcolm Nicholson told the Mercury: “We were sorry to hear that it was being vacated, risking it lying empty and deteriorating and it’s great that a deal has been done which will mean that it will be saved and reopened to the public for town council and community use.”