An independent local publisher has slammed government bosses after being snubbed for a national advertising campaign.

MyTown Media, which publishes MyWelshpool and MyNewtown, has criticised what it has called a “massive mis-spending of public money” by the Welsh Government after missing out on the cash.

The criticism comes after a Freedom of Information request by fellow independent outlet Wrexham.com revealing that the Welsh Government is spending £810,000 on advertising its new policy of introducing blanket 20mph speed limits on many roads current listed as 30mph zones.

According to the Senedd, titles like MyWelshpool and Wrexham.com have been denied a portion of the advertising spend for the campaign because it requires a “national communications approach”.

MyTown Media co-founder David Williams, pictured, said: “I see this as a massive mis-spending of public money.

“We are consistently reaching out to more and more local people on a regular basis, providing public institutions with a huge opportunity to communicate with a large local audience, and yet we continue to be ignored in favour of pages and pages of advertising appearing in the newspapers and the like.

“All we are asking for is a fair piece of the pie to ensure that public money is better spent, and that money is, in turn, invested into ensuring the independent news sector can survive and thrive.

“Don’t be surprised if local people are caught out in this area come September because they don’t know what’s happening.”

A MyWelshpool story about the issue added: “The shocking figure [about the advertising spend] was revealed by a Freedom of Information request made by our fellow independent news friends at Wrexham.com who, like us, are becoming increasingly agitated by huge sums of tax payers’ money being ploughed year-round into major media companies’ newspapers and social media giants based outside Wales.

“The 20mph campaign represents one of the biggest Government advertising spends in Wales ever, and yet the Senedd’s plan even includes a section that they expect local hyperlocal sites, likes us, to carry the campaign for free in a section called ‘earned media’.

“It’s a slap in the face for the vibrant independent news sector in Wales which has grown considerably in strength with hundreds of thousands of daily visitors reading quality local news, including tens of thousands that log onto MyWelshpooland MyNewtown.”

In response, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “The impact of changing the national default speed limit to 20mph requires a national communications approach.

“We have been working closely with stakeholders across Wales on a local level and will continue to review where we need to invest our targeted communications moving forward.”