YOU may have seen the posters around town declaring in a roundabout way that ‘your local newspaper is changing’.

Well this week, we start an exciting new future in a more compact, family-friendly format – becoming the first UK newspaper to ditch the traditional rectangle-shaped newspaper in favour of a pioneering new circular design.

The Herald has proudly served the community since 1892 – but lately we have come around to thinking it’s time for a change.

The new format will help attract a circle of people alienated by the sharp angles of the obtuse mass-media.

Why the change, when the paper has been so successful?

Editorial manager Colin Channon said: “When I became editor last year, I used our columns to ask you what you wanted to see in your Herald. If you could change anything, I asked, what would it be?

“You said you wanted us to make the paper easier to read.

"Almost every letter I received, and every email, asked for us to redesign the paper as a tabloid to make it easier to handle.

"We got to work straight away. We looked at several styles, until we feel we got it right.

"Families can sit around the table reading bits of the paper, and then turn it around as they finish the story.

“We think it could revolutionise the way people read newspapers.”