A SERIES of 17 historic volumes of Berrow's Worcester Journal has been handed to Worcestershire's Hive library for safekeeping.

The donation means the county archives service now holds a virtually complete collection of 18th-century editions of the world's oldest newspaper.

They were given to the Hive by Newsquest (South Midlands) – which from its offices in Hylton Road, Worcester, continues to this day to publish the Journal, along with its sister titles the Worcester News, Malvern Gazette and Evesham Journal.

The Hive, which opened in Worcester three years ago, already had several volumes of Journals from 1712 to 1801, but the donation fills gaps that were missing in its collection.

Adrian Gregson, archival policy and collections manager for Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service, said the Journal played a key role in the history of the county, and it was important that its earliest editions had a permanent home.

John Wilson, group deputy editor for Newsquest (South Midlands), said the donation to the Hive was part of a continuing project to secure the future of parts of the publisher's archive, which includes photographs as well as old newspapers.

Mike Grundy, aged 77, a former reporter who now writes nostalgia pages for both the Journal and Worcester News, has worked with the archive for 30 years.

He said: "I have been an unofficial custodian of these old newspapers for a long time, and I am delighted to see them preserved in such a wonderful place."

The newspapers are being stored in a climate-controlled room at the £60 million Hive and will not normally be open to public inspection, but the library has every edition of the paper on microfilm. They can be viewed free of charge, and it is not necessary to make an appointment.

Berrow's Worcester Journal was first published in 1690, initially appearing as the Worcester Post-man. Its named changed in 1753 when a competitor appeared in Worcester, also calling itself the Post-Man. Owner Harvey Berrow was so furious he put his own name to the title so readers could be sure they were buying the genuine article. Berrow's Worcester Journal has been published ever since, and can proudly claim to be the world's oldest continuously published newspaper.