The ''Kentish Express'' is a weekly newspaper serving southern

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It is published in four editions - Ashford, Folkestone, Hythe and the

Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...

, and

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

. It is owned by the

KM Group KM Media Group is a multimedia company in the county of Kent, England which originated as the publisher of the Kent Messenger. The Group now produces local newspapers, radio stations and websites throughout the county. Iliffe Media acquired KM ...

and is published on Thursdays.

History

The ''Kentish Express'' was founded in 1855 as the ''Ashford and Alfred News''. The first edition was published on 14 July 1855. The paper was Kent's first penny paper after the abolition of stamp duty on newspapers in 1854. Three years later, the paper was renamed the ''Kentish Express & Ashford News''. The KM Group bought the ''Express'' in 1971. It also purchased the ''Folkestone Express'', which was renamed the ''Kentish Express'' (Folkestone) in 2008. Along with the rest of the KM-owned papers, the ''Express'' was given a design overhaul in May 2005.

Offices

All four editions of the ''Kentish Express'' are based at the KM Group's Ashford offices. The Folkestone and Hythe editions were based at the Folkestone offices until April 2009, when the offices were closed.

Circulation

The combined circulation of the four papers in the first half of 2009 was 18,664, a drop of 12.4% against the same period in 2008.

References

External links

''Kentish Express'' homepage
{{Folkestone KM Group newspapers Newspapers published in Kent Newspapers established in 1855 Borough of Ashford Folkestone and Hythe District Weekly newspapers published in the United Kingdom 1855 establishments in England