Circulation of the London regional newspaper will increase from 250,000 a day to 600,000 as new owner Alexander Lebedev continues to make his mark on the publication by dropping the its 50p price tag to nothing.

Lebedev said: "More than doubling the London Evening Standard's circulation and maintaining its quality journalism is what London deserves. An essential fabric of a free and democratic society is high-quality journalism. It acts as a deterrent against corruption and is a way to highlight what is beneficial and worth celebrating. 

"I want to invest in newspapers in general for this purpose and in the London Evening Standard in particular. The Standard has been producing exceptional journalism since 1827 and that is not going to change under my ownership. The London Evening Standard is the first leading quality newspaper to go free and I am sure others will follow."

Lebedev's stance is in direct contrast with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who is on a campaign to move away from free journalism. Murdoch closed the Thelondonpaper last month, essentially opening the door for the Evening Standard to go free.

The Evening Standard was sold to Lebedev by Associated Newspapers earlier this year and he now owns a 75.1% stake with Associated owning the minority.

Associated launched the London Lite initially as competition for Thelondonpaper, which Murdoch launched in late 2006 to "kill the Evening Standard". At the time Murdoch was a huge advocate of free publications, claiming that the future of journalism lay in advertising.