The Sun plans to get into the local advertising market when it launches its revamped Web site next month.

The move, in which the Sun will take on local newspapers, is part of an extensive customisable service on its Web site.

The MyStreet feature will help the Sun's parent company, News International, compete directly against Trinity Mirror and Daily Mail & General Trust, in addition to other local paper publishers who are battling in the local ad market.

MyStreet builds on the classified service Sun Local, which collaborates with the web classifieds firm Oodle since May last year.

According to MediaGuardian, the service will ask users to sign up for free, and lead them to a personalised homepage for their local area, where maps, a virtual pub discussion area, a mailing list for residents and a dating service are all available.

MyStreet will generate revenue through a property section, ads for local services, and display advertising from local businesses. The site is part of a wider News Group Digital strategy aimed to reach the estimated 4.4 million Sun readers who do not use Sun Online.

The company estimates that only 10 percent of Sun newspaper readers, or 800,000 people, use its Web site. About 2.8 million Sun readers do not even use the Internet, according to data compiled for NGD by Internet research firm TGI Net.

The Sun wants its combined print and online reach to grow 2 percent for this financial year. It forecasts that the print readership figure will decline by 5 percent, equivalent to 736,000 readers.