Joining Newsquest in the venture are publishing groups Northcliffe Newspapers and Trinity, plus Associated New Media, the new media publishing division of Daily Mail and General Trust.

The partners all have on-line dimensions to their newspapers totalling more than 45 local and regional sites.

Under the terms of the agreement, each regional site will be branded as either This is or connected through a This is gateway linking them to the This is Britain portal.

This is Britain will deliver from a single hub the most comprehensive pattern of UK coverage available on the web.

David Worlock, non-executive chairman of This is Britain, said: "This is Britain will benefit from the extensive news, sports, business and entertainment content from the partners' leading sites.

"We are confident that This is Britain will provide users with the most effective route to the national, local, regional and specialist information they need.

"In addition, the This is Britain founding partners expect to announce agreements with other regional Press operators which will extend the portal's coverage of the UK to 84 per cent."

ANM's sites This is London, UK Plus, Soccernet and This is Money will be accessible from the portal, as well as the regional Press's successful ADHunter classified advertising services, including JobHunter, AutoHunter and Property Hunter, plus comprehensive mapping and directory services.

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