TheSomali Voice newspaper is back up and running thanks to a collective effort from the people of Bristol.

The bilingual publication's offices in Easton were destroyed by arson in July.

But yesterday the Mayor of Bristol, Councillor Christopher Davies, declared the new office in St Agnes Lodge, St Paul's, open, in front of contributors, supporters and key community figures.

The newspaper's editor, Kayse Maxamed, said: "This has been a great day for the Somali Voice, but we would not have been able to do this without the support of all our sponsors, the Bristol community and the Evening Post.

"We're so glad to have this office after the terrible incident in July. We are looking forward to getting the next edition published in the first week of October."

After the fire at the Stapleton Road office, out-of-hours GP service Friendoc came to the rescue by donating a PC, Apple Mac and publishing software worth £3,000.

Somali Voice has been helped invaluably by £4,457 in sponsorship from the Quartet Foundation, £2,300 from the Safer Bristol Partnership and £1,300 from the Society of Merchant Venturers.

The office has been provided by Bristol City Council at a very low rent.

Batook Pandya, the director of Support Against Racist Incidents (SARI), said: "If this is a success, it's a success for the people of Bristol."