A local businessman has called on the board of the Isle of Wight County Press to delay its proposed sale to Newsquest for two months while he develops a rival bid to buy the independent publisher.

Company director Norman Arnold, also chairman of the Isle of Wight Development Board, has said the weekly newspaper, which was first published in 1884, is an “island institution” that would lose its affinity with the area if sold off to a “media giant”.

Newsquest has made a takeover bid for the County Press, which also owns Isle of Wight news website Yoppul, with shareholders having been advised to accept the offer.