From today, visitors to our site will need to register if they wish to post comments on stories.

We are introducing this measure to cut down on the number of people posting comments which breach our house rules.

We welcome readers' contributions at www.medwaymessenger.co.uk, but people who fail to abide by the guidelines will have their accounts suspended.

This includes people who use the comment facility to abuse other users, post offensive content or impersonate other people.

Our house rules can be read here. Although our messageboards are unmoderated, all IP addresses are logged and posters can be traced if necessary, which may result in prosecution.