AFTER nearly five years of cobwebs and locked doors, the Daily Echo's Winchester office will once again be open to the public.

The ground floor of Echo House, as 5 Upper Brook Street is known, has not been in commercial use since the News Extra left in 2000.

Upstairs on the second floor, Daily Echo staff have spent the last five years producing the Winchester pages with no front desk for readers to come in and share their news.

Today all that changes as the Echo throws open its doors to the city.

This newspaper is reopening the doors of its historic base and welcoming staff from the Hampshire Chronicle.

Daily Echo editor Ian Murray is pleased the Echo building will once again be a very important part of Winchester.

"I am delighted the front office at Winchester is now open to the public,'' he said. "The journalists based in the city are our eyes and ears and I hope readers will make a beeline to their door to pass on news and information.''

Customers will be able to place adverts, photo orders, competition and Find the Ball entries.

Echo reporters Andrew Napier, Chris Semple and Cathy Wallace also hope as many readers as possible will visit them at 5 Upper Brook Street to make sure all local news is covered.

The Daily Echo has a history in Winchester dating back nearly 100 years. In 1921 the Echo opened an office in the city's High Street. Number 3 Minsters House is now part of the county council complex.

According to the official history of Southern Newspapers, which then published the Daily Echo, the High Street offices began to prove inadequate so the Echo moved to Upper Brook Street on October 6, 1959.

"Echo House epitomises in many ways the spirit of Winchester," the book, Echoes of a Century, says. "Like the city, it is old yet adapted to modern uses. Like Winchester, it has charm and dignity."

The listed building dates back to the 18th century and was once a pub, The Plough Inn.

According to Echoes of a Century, Sir Robert Perkins, who attended a cocktail party to celebrate the opening of The Plough, said his firm was grateful for the opportunity of saving a priceless old building occupying a Roman site.

Time took its toll on Echo House and when it was taken over by the Daily Echo the building was in a bad state of repair.

Today the Echo building sits in the heart of Winchester, and now, it is once again open, will take its place as an important landmark.