Industry sources suggest that the machine is destined for Trafford Park Printers, the Manchester print site which is jointly owned by GMG and The Telegraph Group.

The deal would bring the mid-size format, popular in Europe and used by titles including Le Monde and International Herald Tribune, to the UK for the first time. GMG last week confirmed that it had earmarked 50m to relaunch The Guardian and The Observer in the format by 2006.

It is unclear where a mid-size Guardian would be printed in the South, although GMG is in talks with West Ferry Printers about the possibility of installing Berliner presses in its Docklands plant, where the current print contract runs until 2009 (PrintWeek, 1 July 2004). A spokesman for GMG declined to comment on the speculation.