Clearly the local community and the trade union movement pulled together to support the workforce when they voted convincingly in the ballot for the strike.

Thanks are also due to our local paper, which kept us informed throughout. I still have the front page report which appeared in July 2009 of the firm's cost-cutting plans, as well as all the stories on the strike's progress. The reports gave readers a clear account of the issues behind the strike.

My letter is also partly prompted by an article I read recently about Bedworth, a small former mining community in the Midlands. The weekly Bedworth Echo was published for the last time in July and the gap left is now being felt. People can no longer read about all the local news, complain about issues on the letters page or get local sports results.
The article underlined for me just how vital a local newspaper is, and it was clearly demonstrated in the Express' coverage of the Superdrug strike.

Granville Williams,
Editor of Shafted: The Media, the Miners' Strike and the Aftermath.
Tower Avenue,
Upton