ThisisBritain, the national Internet gateway to local news, sport and information of which the award-winning thisisyork is part, has merged with Fish4, the market-leading family of consumer web sites on www.fish4.co.uk

The merger coincides with a £5 million advertising campaign by Fish4, which includes both network and satellite television, and posters in 1,350 outdoor sites - a campaign which began last week and runs through to March. The merger means that Fish4 will bring together national and local news and sport, a directory that lists two million local businesses, cars, homes and jobs sites and access to 103 regional web sites covering almost all of the UK.

The Fish4 web sites were set up by Newsquest Media Group, publishers of the Evening Press, the Northcliffe Newspapers Group, Trinity Mirror, Guardian Media Group Regional Newspapers, Regional Independent Media and Bristol United Press. Jonathan Turpin, chief executive of Fish4 said: "We see this merger of the sites as an exciting development of Fish4 as a major player in the UK Internet market."

Regional sites that make up the network will continue to develop their own identities. So meanwhile browsers can continue to access the thisisyork web site on www.thisisyork.co.uk for the latest views, news, goods and services in the region.

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