The 193rd edition of the Todmorden Talking Newspaper is going digital, with listeners receiving the necessary upgraded equipment before the historic issue is delivered.

"We are hoping that December will be the first digital edition," said chairman, Rod Wainwright.

"A lot of talking newspapers have gone digital because you can no longer buy tape players.

"Some are going into CDs but there are a number of problems with them: there's a limit to their viability in the future because of the download industry and we don't want to have to upgrade again, you cannot rerecord over the CDs and you can't fit as much on to them, so we've decided to use memory sticks instead.

"Through the generous support of Todmorden Blind Society we will supply all our listeners with a new player, which will remain the property of the talking newspaper but will be on permanent loan to them."

Each month a computer memory stick will be sent out to around 40 listeners of the talking newspaper using the same returnable packages that are used now and are delivered for free by the Post Office.

Rod said that the new players have been tested out by some of the newspaper's listeners, who have found them easy to use.

Barbara Finney, of Todmorden, is partially sighted and regularly gets the talking newspaper to keep herself up-to-date with what's going on in Todmorden.

"As far as I can tell, it looks very simple so I can cope with this. It's quite an attractive ornament.

"It's good that you can hear it either with earphones or without.

"You can just use it like a radio. I think it will be a big help."

This move to digital is just another technological step in the newspaper's 16-year history.

"When we started in 1993 we recorded in someone's home on a reel to reel.

"We produced a 60-minute tape that was all taken directly from the Todmorden News and read as it was written.

"You could even hear us turning the pages," said Rod.

"We then started to add interviews with interesting people in the town and gradually we got to where we started to edit the content of the news.

"After we got a lottery grant we bought our own equipment and it was about that time when we moved into Ferney Lee School to record the monthly editions and we started recording 90-minute tapes.

"We split the tapes so there was news on side one and on side two there was a quiz, short stories, interviews and medical information.

"But, of course, we're going to have to change all our terminology now because we won't have sides with this new technology," added Rod.