Forth Independent Newspapers is launching a weekly free paper in central Scotland.
Publishers of the Wee County News and the East Kilbride Mail will distribute 8,000 copies of the Allanwater News in Bride of Allan, Dunblane and Stirlingshire districts.
The paper, which hit the streets on Thursday 1 June, is the result of a year's planning by FIN managing
director Pauline McCart and chairman Ernest Petrie.
McCart said: "Our market research confirmed our gut instinct that these towns were crying out for their own newspaper, one which would reflect the strong sense of tradition and community which courses through them.
"Now they have a newspaper that will be positively parish pump, without being parochial.
"The Allanwater News is a serious newspaper that will record the news and views of its readers and vigorously promote the commercial and cultural interests of the towns and nearby districts. And it represents a major investment by FIN in the growth of its local newspaper portfolio."
The new title is edited by Joan McCann, who also heads up the Alloa-based Wee County News, Clackmannanshire's leading paper.
McCart said the paper aims to establish a significant presence in the more affluent parts of Stirlingshire, right up to the town of Stirling itself.
A year ago the small publishing group acquired the East Kilbride Mail, a free title distributed to 26,000 homes in Scotland's sixth largest town.
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