The BBC has today announced the winners of the contracts to employ up to 150 local reporters to cover councils and public meetings across the UK.

The lion’s share of the contracts have gone to the ‘big three’ regional press groups – Trinity Mirror, Johnston Press and Newsquest.

They and other successful bidders will be responsible for recruiting and employing the new reporters, but their stories will be used by the BBC and up to 700 other media outlets across the country.

The BBC, which is funding the scheme, has now provided a full breakdown of which newspaper titles will be responsible for covering each top-tier local authority.

The contract  to cover the York Council (together with Darlington and North Yorkshire) has gone to the Northern Echo (part of the Newsquest group, which also runs The Press).

It is unclear what effect this change will have on the quality and breadth of coverage of local affairs in York.