Johnston turns five dailies into weeklies

Five historic daily regional newspapers are to become weeklies as their owner Johnston Press moves to single online and printed paper newsrooms.

The titles in Halifax, Kettering, Northampton, Peterborough and Scarborough will cease daily publication on 25 April.

Johnston said the daily titles would be replaced with a "bumper print edition" once a week. So-called "platform neutral" newsrooms are being created to provide content online and for the printed papers. A spokesman said any job losses would be "in single figures".

The changes were announced by Ashley Highfield, who became chief executive of Johnston Press at the end of last year. He said: "Johnston's focus has always been local and we will increasingly benefit from that core expertise with the rapid growth in both social media and in demand for access from mobile devices."

Last week saw the departure of editors from two of Johnston's biggest daily papers, The Scotsman and Yorkshire Post.