THE news that the Echo is to launch a special new Teesside edition is really welcome tidings.

Even more welcome is that it comes with the employment of two specialist Teesside reporters.

For far too long now Teesside and Cleveland has been poorly served by the mainstream regional media, and the resulting vacuum has been filled with the ephemeral half-truths of the local social media.

At a time when we are coming up to the marking of the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, an event that turbo-charged the advent of industrial Britain, the need for good, solid and truthful news is greater than ever.

I am pleased it is the Echo that is stepping up to the mark.

David Walsh, Redcar.