MORE colour is on its way!After months of preparation, the new press extension for the Evening Star arrived at our offices over the weekend.However this is no simple piece of machinery that can be swung into position and switched on!It will take three months of preparation before the 45-tonne extension to the Star's existing press goes into action.

By Paul Geater

MORE colour is on its way!

After months of preparation, the new press extension for the Evening Star arrived at our offices over the weekend.

However this is no simple piece of machinery that can be swung into position and switched on!

It will take three months of preparation before the 45-tonne extension to the Star's existing press goes into action.

Then the number of pages we can print in colour will be doubled – giving our readers and advertisers an even brighter publication.

Roads at the back of the Star's offices – Turret Lane and Rose Lane – were closed yesterday while the new equipment was edged into place.

The closures were timed for the quietest time of the week, and the move went off without a hitch.

Manufactured in France, the new press extension will be wired into the existing press over the next few weeks.

The next crucial period will come in two weeks' time when its electricity supply is switched on – but the installation is already running ahead of schedule.

The new extension is due to be rolling, doubling our colour capacity, during September.

"We're delighted to see the new extension in our building. There's now tangible evidence that the new era for the Star is just around the corner.

"We've always been a colourful newspaper, this will enable us to present more of our photographers' efforts in their full glory," said Star editor Nigel Pickover.