AN ARTICLE detailing the conviction of Lechlade man Nicholas Saunders, who was found guilty of having sex with his ex-wife’s dog, was the most-read page on the Standard website in 2012.

The article published in June was viewed 12,374 times – almost 5,000 more times than the next most-viewed page – and was also the second most-tweeted page of the year and the third most shared by email.

Another article on the same case was also the sixth most-read of the year, with 5,570 views.

The Standard’s breaking story about a crash in which Cirencester man Robert Massey died after driving off a bridge onto the A429 in July was the second-most read article of the year, with 7,668 views, as well as being the most tweeted article from the Standard website throughout 2012.

The same article was also the second most ‘liked’ page on Facebook, with 20 likes.

Follow-up articles on the same story were also the fourth, fifth and ninth most-read pages of the year.

Another breaking story from July – about a light aircraft crash at Cotswold Airport – was the third most-read article of the year with 5,676 views, and was also the second most shared by email.

An article on the death of South Cerney man Max Hartshorne in a suspected hit-and-run in August was viewed 5,308 times – making it the seventh most-read of the year – while another on an incident in January which saw a man stabbed in the eye in the centre of Cirencester was eighth with 5,063 views.

The same article was also the third most ‘liked’ on Facebook with 12 likes, while a breaking story on November’s flooding was the tenth most read of the year, with 4,340 views.

2012 saw readers flock to the Standard website to make their views heard, with one article on Cotswold District Council’s failure to disclose the cost of a Standards Board hearing into Cllr Esmond Jenkins receiving a record 55 comments.

The Standards Board hearing into the conduct of Cllr Jenkins prompted a large amount of lively debate on the Standard website, with another article on hearing commented on 41 times – making it the fifth most-discussed article of the year.

An article on social housing tenants in Tetbury hitting out at housing provider Bromford in September prompted debate, with 53 comments, while a reader-submitted video allegedly showing an illegal fox hunt was commented on 48 times, making it the year’s third most-discussed article.

The perennial favourite of the mysterious Cotswolds Big Cat prompted a lively debate in February, with an article on a sighting in Chelworth being the fourth most-discussed article of 2012 with 48 comments.

Readers increasingly took to social networking to share Standard stories, with an article on a trust set up by the parents of seven-year-old Timmy Mason, who died in 2011 after a three-year battle with cancer, receiving 23 ‘likes’ on Facebook.

An article on a fraud at Cirencester’s Lewis Lane playgroup, which led to a campaign by the Standard raising thousands of pounds for the group, was liked 11 times, as was a story on a Hullavington autism sufferer who helped Lloyds Bank develop better services for people with the condition.

On Twitter, an article on staff at Cirencester’s Red Cross shop holding a fundraising vintage day in October and another story from the same month on the town’s male voice choir performing at the Royal Albert Hall were both shared five times, as was a January story on a suspected dog-fighting ring.

Unusually, an article on a walking route around Sapperton published in 2009 was the article most shared by email in 2012, while a story on a paedophile investigation in Crudwell was the fourth most-emailed.

Finally, the Cotswold Water Park controversy reared its head again in January, with an article on an alleged set of secret agreements shared by email eight times, making it the fifth most-emailed of the year.

To read any of the stories referred to in this article, click the blue text on the relevant paragraph.