With a spiralling public debt and pressure from regional newspaper owners, councils are taking a hard look at the newsletters they publish.

Most recently the mayor of Doncaster Peter Davies decided to close the council monthly newsletter on his first day in office, saving the council £67,000, according to reports.

Last month Cornwall Council scrapped its Your Cornwall newsletter in its first year of operation after the Conservative Party won control. Letters to local papers have also resulted in the council reinstating planning applications in local papers giving back vital advertising revenues.

And the new Tory council in at Lancashire has cut newsletter editions from 10 a year to just two, resulting in savings of £292,000.

The Bucks Free Press also reported that councils in the region are to reduce five newsletters into one, reducing both the pagination and circulation.

MPs too are stepping forward denouncing what they consider a waste of money.

Speaking in the Sunday Mirror new culture minister Ben Bradshaw MP lambasted council newsletters as "propaganda sheets".

Caroline Spelman, shadow secretary for communities and local government, also spoke out about the dangers posed to the regional press by plans to relax controls of local council publicity spending, likening council newsletters to a 'weekly Pravda'.

Coucil papers have also attracted criticism from local newspapers for the competition they present the ailing sector. However, it has emerged that an Audit Commission into whether council newsletters do offer value for money will not investigate the impact on local papers.