The battle for the hyper-local websites market has taken a new turn with the launch of a digital portal - by broadcasters, STV - offering the likes of news and reviews from over 200 Scottish cities, towns and villages.

Included on www.local.stv.tv are sport and weather updates, business directories, jobs and ‘What’s On’ guides. Whether Aviemore or Wemyss Bay, the portal is being described by STV as the "next development" of its digital platforms and "will support user-generated content, allowing people across the country to celebrate the best - and highlight the worst - an area has to offer".

Continues STV: "Online users are invited to interact with the website by posting their own ratings, reviews and comments about local events and businesses. Local groups and communities will be encouraged to supply news about their own activities, making STV Local a truly interactive experience."

STV is not the only media organisation to have turned its attention to creating a string of hyper-local websites. For instance, shawlands.eveningtimes.co.uk is one of dozens of such sites being operated by the Glasgow newspaper, the Evening Times.

Adds Alistair Brown, Head of Digital at STV: “STV Local allows us to get right on the doorstep of our audiences across Scotland, offering an essential source of local information for their areas, and will provide the foundations on which we hope to build strong relationships with communities across Scotland.

“We are bringing together the richness of material from STV – including news, sport, entertainment, weather, jobs - and combining it with local information as well as ratings and reviews from individuals, to produce a series of websites that will be of real value to residents and visitors. The site will continue to evolve and improve as we develop a broad range of relationships with individuals and organisations across the whole of Scotland."