A free online service has been launched to give local businesses an exciting new way to promote their special deals. 'The Caterham and District Gold Star Deals'' site forms part of the main Caterham and District Independent website and can be found at www.caterham- independent.co.uk/goldstardeals

Owner of The Caterham and District Independent, Julia Church, said: "I thought it would be a good idea to have a website that local people could visit to view some great local deals all in one place. There will be no fiddling about cutting out coupons. Shoppers simply have to quote a promotional code listed on the site to get the deal." Julia did some research first to see if others thought it was a good idea. After receiving lots of positive feedback, it was all systems go!

"Once I had decided to launch the site I was very busy, inviting local businesses to feature in the launch and getting promotional material designed, but we are ready to go now!" she said.

"One of the challenges has been getting the hang of using 'social media' to spread the word, using Facebook and Twitter. I hope that once people discover the Gold Star Deals site they will tell their friends using the internet."

Those who have signed up for the paper's free weekly online newsletter will be kept notified when the deals are updated each month.

Julia said: "Our weekly 'E-newsletter' enables us to send out extra news stories to our readers along with a calendar of local events. It will be a useful tool for keeping everyone updated with the Gold Star Deals as well."

If you do not already receive the weekly newsletter, you can sign up at www.caterham-independent.co. uk and click on the link near the top of the Home Page.

For anyone with an i-Phone, the deals will also be viewable via the Caterham and District Independent i-Phone App!

Some of the offers have Terms and Conditions and are for a limited number of customers because they are such generous deals so early viewing is recommended. Enjoy!