The Croydon Guardian has been praised for its coverage of major issues in the borough in a debate in Parliament.

Croydon Central MP Andrew Pelling said the paper should be “congratulated” on issues such as knife crime as he spoke at a Westminster Debate on local press.

He said: “Many local newspapers campaign on social issues. I am impressed by the work done by journalists on both my local newspapers, such as Harry Miller...and Kirsty Whalley.

“Such people campaign on important issues that are vital to our community—for example, they deal with issues involving the families of victims of knife crime—but given the pressures and the limited pay and resources, it is very difficult for local journalists to pursue such interests.”

Mr Pelling said the stance by the Gannett group, who own the Croydon Guardian, in banning sex ads from its papers was commendable and urged rivals to follow suit.

He also gave special praise for the paper publicising the charity-giving, prize-giving process related to the competition for the best Christmas lights in Croydon.

He added: “Providing such publicity shows how newspapers can support their Members of Parliament and local communities.”

The 49-year-oldquestioned local government choosing to publicise through their own news channels rather than local independent media, especially given the current economic times.

But he singled out croydonguardian.co.uk and its success in reaching a monthly audience of more than 275,000 people.