Almost 33,000 people from Newbury to Normandy, and Stroud Green to Sydney visited the site in August to catch up with the latest news, vote on the burning local issues, and chew the fat on the forum. At its peak, more than 1,500 a day have logged on.

More than half of users are from Newbury, but thousands more are tuning in from West Berkshire, North Hampshire and further afield, clicking through more than 500,000 pages between them.

Website publisher Brian Burgess said: “These will be very appealing to local companies when details of our advertising and sponsorship packages are released later this month.

“Newbury deserves to have a bigger voice online, which brings in more visitors, while helping rekindle the town’s famous community spirit with our forum.“

Site data reveals that newcomers spend hours browsing through hundreds of stories, images, and message boards, while more active community members have contributed by completing a survey of the town’s shops. Older members have also been able to reminisce in the Memories section about how life has changed in Newbury.

“August is known as the silly season because there’s not supposed to be much news about, but I’ve been surprised at how much is going on in Newbury this summer. We will continue to use our local knowledge and extensive contacts to keep readers posted.”

In less than 12 weeks since launching, newbury.net has brought you:

• The inside track on talks to bring a new shopping centre to Newbury

• News that 35,000 golf fans will be in Newbury for the Open

• Revealed how West Mills residents will pay £25 to park on the road.

• How land deals had boosted profits at the racecourse.