Ad sales teams in Newbury are bracing themselves for a price war when the town's third newspaper launches at the end of the month.

The first edition of the Newbury Journal will be available from February 1, and available as a free paper every Thursday. Newbury.net can report that the paper will be discounting ad rates heavily as they seek to get established in a town already boasting the Newbury & Thatcham Chronicle, Kick FM and Newbury Weekly News. This is good news for local businesses, who will have the chance to make their advertising budgets stretch further.

The Newbury Journal is owned by Tri-Media Publishing, which also publishes the Basingstoke Observer, South Oxfordshire Courier, Oxfordshire Living and a number of other titles including West Berkshire News on behalf of the West Berkshire Partnership. Director Howard Taylor bought the business from his old employer Milestone Group - run by Meridian TV anchorman Andy Craig.

Newbury Journal will be edited by Lawrence Webb, who will also be responsible for content on the online version of the newspaper at www.newburyjournal.co.uk.