Official announcements have confirmed that the Daily Mirror owners have managed to seal a deal to purchase a group of regional newspapers, including the hugely acclaimed Manchester Evening News.

Under the terms of the deal, Trinity Mirror will be paying the owners of The Guardian, GMG, a total of 7.4 Million Pounds in return for ownership of as many as 30 publication titles, and to release the company from a long-term contract of printing worth 37.4 Million Pounds.

Also included in the deal are the flagship MEN title and 21 additional papers in the North West. The remaining 8 titles, however, like the Reading Post, are in the South of England.

Calling the deal and the titles acquired a "perfect strategic fit for our group", Sly Bailey, Chief Executive of Trinity Mirror, said that the acquisition of the titles and associated websites was a further step towards our strategic goal of creating a multi-media business of real scale".