Newsquest has reported a record number of articles read across its local news sites.

The media company, which publishes more than 200 titles across the UK, said 190 million articles were read on its sites in January, which is a five percent increase from January last year.

It also had a total of 53 million online visitors and 275 million page views in January.

The Eastern Daily Press was Newsquest's most-read website in January, with nine million article page views.

In addition to this, the company's number of paying digital subscribers rose to 113,000 in January, which is an increase of 31 percent from January 2024.

The company launched 'soft paywalls' on most of its larger sites in 2020, meaning online visitors can read up to 30 articles a month before they are asked to pay for a subscription.

A digital subscription is typically priced at £4.99 per month.

Henry Faure Walker, CEO of Newsquest, said: "The demand for our journalism continues to grow with the 53 million visitors to the Newsquest sites in January reading a record number of articles.

"The results from digital subs continue to exceed our expectations and reinforce our view that soft paywalls are a fundamental part of our local news business model, alongside our successful advertising business.

"Once again these audience figures underline the phenomenal demand for trusted local news and the power of Newsquest’s local platforms which now typically reach more than 75% of local people each month."