EAST Cleveland's longest-established free newspaper is relaunched today with a new name, new offices and a brighter future.

The Clarion - serving Redcar, Guisborough, Saltburn, Marske, New Markse, Skelton and Brotton - was founded 17 years ago.

Today, it will be renamed the East Cleveland Advertiser as it becomes part of the highly successful series of free newspapers produced across the region by Newsquest North-East, publishers of The Northern Echo and the Darlington & Stockton Times.

The paper, which was bought by Newsquest North-East in March 2000, has moved from its base in Queen Street, Redcar, to larger and more accessible offices in Redcar High Street, as part of a development plan.

The new offices will be officially opened at lunchtime today by Redcar MP Vera Baird and the Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland, Vilma Collins, at a ceremony attended by advertisers and senior executives from Newsquest North-East.

The paper has a distribution of 32,659, with about 93 per cent of households in the East Cleveland area receiving a free copy.

Editor of The Advertiser Series and The Northern Echo, Peter Barron, who was born in Saltburn, said: "This is an important day for East Cleveland because Newsquest North-East is demonstrating a real commitment to developing a newspaper which has strong local roots.

"We have exciting plans for the paper and will build on the community links which have grown over the past 17 years.

"The people of East Cleveland deserve a paper which gets right down to the grass roots and provides them with a voice on local issues. With the backing of one of the country's most powerful newspaper groups, that is what they will get."