A NEW Cherries fans’ forum is set to launch on the Daily Echo website next week.

The online meeting place for Echo readers will allow supporters to discuss goings-on at the club, on and off the field, and is intended to bridge the gap while the Echo’s reporters and photographers remain banned from covering games at Dean Court.

As well as opening debate between supporters, users of the forum will be able to post their own match reports as Cherries look to finish the season on a high following a terrible run of form.

Echo sports editor Neil Meldrum said: “We appreciate many of our readers, both online and in print, have been left dismayed by the club’s decision to shut out our journalists.

“As our editorial in Wednesday’s Echo explained, until such time as AFC Bournemouth recognises the Daily Echo as an independent voice and not a Dean Court public relations machine, we will not be reporting on the club.

“I hope the creation of a new fans’ forum on our website, however, will help the supporters continue to talk about their football club, as they have done for many years via our story comment threads.

“Fans will be able to post their views on the matches, both home and away, add player ratings and engage in discussion about everything to do with the club, both on and off the field.

“We are very much looking forward to hosting what promises to be an online hub of lively debate regarding the football club.”