A new weekly newspaper for young British Asians has launched in London, with the aim to cover the entire country in a matter of months.

Page 2 Page, a freely distributed paper, is aiming to target a more upmarket audience with a focus on "quality" editorial and news. It is published in a compact format similar to The Independent.

India Today's former London correspondent Ishara Bhasi joined the paper as its assistant editor at launch. Other contributors include author Mihir Bose, Savita Vij (formerly at Eastern Eye), Nabanita Sircar (Hindustan Times) and Jaspreet Pandohar (BBC Films, Desi).

Managing editor Shashi Singh says the paper is eschewing a tabloid approach to news because "there is always a room at the top for quality-oriented, well-produced and packaged product".

She adds: "We seek to reflect the richness of our multi-cultural world. We fill the vacuum that both Asian and mainstream media have created, maybe albeit unconsciously. The English mainstream press often overlooks the increasing diversity in our communities while the ethnic media is increasingly mired in its own editorial parochialism.

The newspaper's marketing material states that tabloids such as Eastern Eye and Desi Xpress cover mainly showbiz and Bollywood. "They hardly run any Asian campaigns or break stories."

Page 2 Page plans to make a splash by running agenda-setting stories. It has started advertising on Asian TV channels on Sky and radio stations.

Singh adds: "We set to reach out to all, the young, upwardly mobile and professional segments and bring to our readers the news of the Diaspora spread across continents and reach out to others who have come here from different nations.

"With this in view we have started special pages on Dubai and plan to spread out to other major countries from where a sizeable number of families are settled in the UK."

Distribution is currently limited to newsagents around the capital and at various centrally located tube stations on Friday evenings. Its management told AIM that there are plans to take the paper nationwide and then international next year.

www.thepage2page.com