Morning edition of Belfast paper

The paper's evening edition is Northern Ireland's largest daily

Northern Ireland's only daily evening newspaper The Belfast Telegraph is launching a morning edition.

The paper's new edition will appear in a compact format on Tuesday.

The paper's evening edition, which is the biggest-selling paper in the region with a daily circulation of about 103,000, will remain a broadsheet.

The paper's editor, Edmund Curran, says the new edition will provide newspaper readers with more choice.

"As an evening paper we are a bit confined and we realise that people's lifestyle and their habits have changed over the years," he said.

"Many people, we think, would like to have the Belfast Telegraph at a time that is convenient to them, so we are going to be offering people a wider choice.

"We have a reputation as a newspaper of serving both communities. We have that kind of ethos about us and we provide that choice when we go out on the market this morning."

The paper is part of Sir Anthony O'Reilly's Independent News and Media group.