Speaking about the News International boss's 600m investment in sites at Enfield, Glasgow and Knowsley, Desmond said: "I'm not sure delivery of newspapers in the next 10 years will be the same. It must go more electronic.

"So do you really want to be investing in machinery that goes faster when the chances are that you will be selling less?"

The comments, in an interview with The Independent, come a week after he announced a 20m injection into West Ferry to improve its colour capacity (PrintWeek, 21 October). Express Newspapers has released no other details on the investment.

The comments will pose questions on the future of West Ferry, where contracts to print both The Telegraph and The Guardian are due to run out in 2009.

The colourful press baron also revealed the extent of the bitter boardroom rift at West Ferry between himself and Telegraph executives prior to the Barclay brothers' 665m purchase of the group, describing his former adversaries as "old Etonian" and "anti-Semitic".

He also commented on his now-infamous goose-stepping outburst at a West Ferry board meeting, at a time when German media giant Axel Springer was a strong candidate to buy the Telegraph Group.

"I was having a laugh at their misfortunes. Their boss [Conrad Black] was going to jail, another [Dan Colson] fined, and here was an anti-Europe paper being taken over by Germans. What a laugh," he said.

Desmond also confirmed plans to launch a London evening newspaper in the new year which will take on Associated Newspapers' the Evening Standard.

A spokeswoman said that an announcement on the paper's launch would come "in the next few days".

Story by Josh Brooks