The local news media industry’s award-winning Public Notice Portal has hit the milestone of one million users.

The portal, which is supported by the Iliffe Group in Kent, is designed to enhance local media’s coverage of public notices in print.

The achievement comes after new research shows local news media remains the number one destination for public notices.

The Public Notice Portal helps the public find out important information about planning, construction, transport links, roadworks and licensing changes in their local area.

The portal won Digital Initiative of the Year at the Regional Press Awards and has been nominated for the Best Digital Publishing Innovation award at the AOP Digital Publishing Awards, which will be held later this month.

It is backed by publishers in membership of the News Media Association (NMA) having been developed by the local news media industry – including Reach plc which built the website – with funding from the Google News Initiative.

Research conducted by OnePoll conducted for the NMA in March found that the Public Notice Portal is taking public notices to younger audiences.

Usage of the portal is highest among the 25 to 34 age group (16%) and 18 to 24s (10%), compared with the UK average of 7%.

The survey also found that local news media in print and digital remains the top platform used by the UK public to view public notices (41%), ahead of local authority websites (29%), social media (28%) and printed mailouts (26%).

The NMA’s chief executive, Owen Meredith, said: “Placing public notices in local news media remains the best way to ensure that everyone can access the important information contained within them in a fair and uniform way.

“The statutory requirement on councils to advertise public notices in printed newspapers ensures that those who are digitally excluded can access the notices.

“Meanwhile, the notices also gain significant reach online through the news websites of local papers and the portal, further strengthening the industry’s offering and public engagement.”

Printed local newspapers remain a vital platform for millions of people to access the notices.

Research suggests that removing public notices from printed local newspapers would cut off 10 million people, many of whom are in vulnerable or elderly groups, from viewing the notices.

In Wales, where ministers face opposition to plans to remove the statutory requirement on councils to advertise council tax notices in local papers, the level of digital exclusion is even higher than in the rest of the UK, with as many as 7% of the population, or 170,000 people, not using the internet.