Something remarkable is happening to Britain's regional press.

In the past few years, local papers have been enjoying a revival in their fortunes with rising ad revenues, improving circulations, and major changes in ownership which have delighted the City and led to increased newspaper investment and innovation. The industry is in the spotlight and its new-found confidence is infectious.

While this renewed enthusiasm for the regional press on the national stage is welcome and probably overdue, it is the views of local communities which matter most to local papers and which will really determine the industry's long-term health. And it seems that more and more people are turning back to their local papers.

Why? Has your local paper changed very much in recent years? The format may have changed, it may be brighter, more colourful, better-designed, more user-friendly. But fundamentally, I would suggest, local papers are still performing a very similar role in their communities as they have over the past 300 years. The content is all about local news, local information, local people, local events. Indeed, the newspapers which have focused more heavily on local news – their traditional role – seem to have had the best results and attracted the most new readers.

I believe that the underlying reason for the revival in regional and local newspapers is a revival in our belief in the community. We need our local communities now, more than ever. Advances in electronic communications have opened up a world of choice to us all - but computers and TV screens can never give us face-to-face human contact.

We can now shop from home, do our banking from home, and organise practically every aspect of our lives from our telephone and computer – often without even hearing a real voice. We can. But we don't always want to.

The truly remarkable happening in Britain today is that people are getting out of the confines of their homes and making contact with each other again.

Look at the growth in local interests and community activities. Eating out, going to the cinema and the theatre, sport and local shopping - all are on the increase. In today's impersonal screen-dominated world, people are reaching out for a sense of belonging, a sense of community.

Local newspapers are helping to give people back their sense of community. They provide a familiar, guiding hand through the maze of media choices and out into the real world. Local papers are trusted and believed, more than any other medium - probably because they are so close to their communities and so accountable to them.

All politicians recognise the close link between local newspapers and their constituencies. We are acutely aware that local papers reflect the real issues which concern the people of this country. They question and probe on behalf of their readers; they hold us to account and they can be tough and critical. But overall, I have found local papers to be honest, balanced and fair in their reporting.

And it's not just during elections that we politicians focus on our local newspapers, although regional newspaper coverage of local and national elections illustrates the vital role these newspapers have to play in local democracy. The regional press, with its army of local news gatherers, is simply the only medium which can give such comprehensive coverage to the issues which affect people's lives every day.

A local newspaper is the heartbeat of its community, reflecting the needs and values and aspirations of the people living there. I believe the current growth in strong, campaigning and effective local newspapers reflects a resurgence in strong, healthy communities.

A strong, vibrant regional newspaper industry is important to every one of us. That's why I am so pleased to congratulate all regional and local papers on their success and to offer my support to them and their readers in Local Newspaper Week 2000.

William Hague