A family-owned city news title which has been running for 20 years has shut along with its sister publication.

AboutMyArea Portsmouth and Island City Living websites have announced their closure after owners the Hopkinson family were unable to find anyone to take over their running.

The Hopkinsons had taken over AboutMyArea Portsmouth from previous owner Haley Storey in 2020 and launched lifestyle and features brand Island City Living in the same year, but have now decided to relocate away from Portsmouth.

Site editor Peter Hopkinson, pictured, ran the titles with his wife Michaela and their children Hope and Joe. The titles remain online for now, but as of last Friday they are no longer being updated.

In a farewell message to readers, Peter wrote: “Over recent months it has become more and more difficult to maintain the regular flow of information as other business interests and our planned relocation have taken up more and more of our time.

“We had really hoped to find someone new to run the service but also to no avail.

“We would like to say a massive thank you to the tens of thousands of you that have visited our websites, interacted with us on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn pages and downloaded our mobile app.

“We have loved every second of our time running the service and have met some incredible people, who have a shared aim of making Portsmouth a great place to live and work in, and visit.

“Thank you especially to those who contributed their amazing images of Portsmouth for our very popular Instagram Sunday Share and our Facebook Photo of the Week.

“There are so many platforms out there now sharing information about what’s happening across Portsmouth, so we are sure you won’t miss out on all the creativity and culture that makes Portsmouth such a unique city, one that has a genuine spirit of independence and that is rightly proud of its past, its present and excited about its very bright future.

“We will miss the place and being part of such a vibrant and supportive community.”