An editor has declared the weekly newspaper he launched as the “successor” to a defunct regional daily after marking its 100th issue.

Phil Creighton has made the claim about Reading Today, launched two years ago in order to plug what he viewed as a “gap in the market” caused by the closure of the Reading Post in 2014.

Phil previously served as features editor on the Post and also runs Reading Today’s sister weekly Wokingham Today.

Reading is also served by Newsquest weekly the Reading Chronicle.

In a post on X marking its 100th issue, pictured, Phil said: “Just as @wokinghamtoday is the successor to The Wokingham Times, so @RdgToday is the successor to the Evening Post, where I started back in *cough* 1997.”

Speaking to HTFP, he added: “This week in October marks the start of my journalistic career. A fresher, stepping over the threshold of the student newspaper office opened not just the door to a fun couple of years on the student newspaper, but to an incredible opportunity at the Reading Evening Post.

“First it was setting property adverts, then working in pre-press and page planning, before switching to editorial on graduation, eventually becoming features editor.

“Throughout it all, it was possible to see just how embedded the Reading Evening Post was within the town, from sponsoring awards to the street vendors flogging copies hot off the press.

“It has been a privilege to learn from so many wise people, especially editors Kim Chapman, Andy Murrill and the much-missed Hilary Scott. They all have an innate understanding of how to create must-read newspapers that celebrate the good and highlighted the bad, when necessary – an impeccable pedigree from some formidable people. What an honour for any cub.

“Wokingham Today launched in 2015 after Reach closed the Wokingham Times and the Reading Post, leaving a distinct gap in the market – no town should be in a news desert.

“People in Reading would always ask me when we would launch a Reading title, and two years ago we did. We have the same ethos that the Evening Post did, just with a smaller team.

“Reaching issue 100 is a milestone for a hyperlocal social enterprise like ourselves and we’re now looking to the future, with some great ideas up our sleeves. The best, as they say, is yet to come.

“This week is the 27th anniversary of that threshold step. Apart from five years working for The Baptist Times, my career has been based around the Reading and Wokingham areas.

“Now older, greyer, and fatter… I am still determined as ever to ensure our communities have access to the news that matters to them.”