Highbury had to suspend trading on its shares at 0.7p on 12 December after discussions broke down with its lenders about swapping some of its 27m debt for equity.

Highbury's current difficulties could seriously affect printers contracted to produce its 30 magazines. Southernprint, Wyndeham and Polestar have all signed three-year contracts with Highbury.

In the past year, the publisher's shares have dropped 90% as it struggled to recover from a failed attempt to sell itself to Bath-based publisher Future. The company's current market value is 2.2m.