The London-headquartered newspaper publisher said freedom of press enjoyed by UK newspapers meant direct subsidies would not be "a safe and sensible way forward".

Trinity's comments were in response to an announcement by French president Nicolas Sarkozy in which he pledged €600m (£565m) to help the ailing French newspaper industry, which is among the least profitable in Europe.

As well as a cash bailout, Sarkozy has also promised all teenagers will be given a free one-year subscription to a newspaper of their choice on their 18th birthday in an attempt to encourage reading from a younger age.

However, a spokesman for Trinity Mirror said: "We don't believe that direct subsidies are a safe or sensible way forward.

"There are two easy things for the government to do. The first is to indicate that they will intervene and allow consolidation of regional newspapers on public interest grounds.

"The second is to return to using local newspapers for public notices and public sector job advertising."

The industry will now await the government's interim Digital Britain report later this week, which will contain options and suggestions to support UK newspapers.