LOCAL newspapers are vital - and the government must support them, the leader of the Labour Party has said.

Speaking to the editor of the Reading Chronicle on a visit to Tilehurst, Sir Keir Starmer said: "I think Local newspapers are really important. I think that Holding local representatives to account matters and I think local communities want to see their local areas [represented]."

Regional papers, such as the Chronicle, now have huge online audiences. The Chronicle has around 400,000 readers in print and online each month. 

But research shows local publishers miss out on advertising opportunities online due to tech platforms such as Google, Instagram and Facebook consuming the market share.

Sir Keir Starmer added: "I think that in an age when people don't trust politics, there's a huge trust in your local paper. So we need to work with Google and others.

"We've got support our local papers. I'm really worried that unless we talk to Google and others and better arrangement that we will lose even more of these vital outfits."