The Guardian is creating a North of England news hub in Manchester, with the aim of extending its coverage of the region and the reach of its newsroom.

Current North of England editor Helen Pidd and prisons correspondent Eric Allison will be joined by Guardian staffer Josh Halliday as North of England correspondent.

Pidd can be found tweeting @helenpidd, Allison @allison_eric and Halliday @joshhalliday.

Nazia Parveen, who is currently serving as one of the Daily Mail’s North West correspondents, has also been appointed North of England correspondent. She can be found tweeting @nparveeng.

Frances Perraudin, digital trainee at The Guardian, will also join the team as North of England reporter. She can be found tweeting @fperraudin.

All five journalists will work from the Guardian’s existing newsroom in Deansgate, Manchester and report to the national newsdesk. They will all start these roles in January.