According to the draft code of recommended practice on local authority publicity, only parish councils will be able to publish a newsletter or newspaper once a month.

The document states: "Where local authorities do commission or publish newsletters, newssheets or similar communications, they should not issue them more frequently than quarterly."

Pickles' announcement last week completed a 12-month campaign from the minister, which was backed by local newspaper publishers. He has previously accused councils of spending too much time and money on "weekly town hall Pravdas" rather than focusing on frontline services.

However, the enforcement of a quarterly publication has been met with fierce criticism, even from those that supported the move.

During the campaign, Guardian media expert Roy Greenslade criticised council newspapers such as Tower Hamlets' East End Life, and while he was pleased such titles will be stifled, he did not support the move.

Commenting on his blog, he said: "The code will certainly see off similar incursions into the territory of the newspaper publishing industry by local authorities. Not that there are many of them, and that's the point.

"The code is surely going to be too restrictive. A sledgehammer has been used to crack a nut. By outlawing the publication by councils of any kind of communication, except on a quarterly basis, the government is in danger of preventing councils from carrying out their responsibility to keep their residents informed of local services."

Baroness Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association, added: "Not only are these rules completely unnecessary, but they have the potential to harm local democracy and drive up the amount of money councils will have to spend on advertising to fulfil their legal requirements."