11 editorial jobs across Essex are to be cut by Newsquest.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has revealed that Newsquest is planning to make seven photographer jobs and four features jobs redundant.

If the planned cuts go ahead, there will be just two photographers working for Newsquest across South Essex.

A NUJ representative said: "We will have to rely more and more on submitted pictures, which are often poor quality. If a big story breaks, we  will not have the capacity to do the story justice with high quality pictures.

"The move seems especially short-sighted, bearing in mind the company has made a not insignificant amount of money in recent years from picture sales initiatives, such as school supplements, which can only make money from quality, professional, staff pictures.

"The loss of features writers is an insult to our readers. When Newsquest increased the cover price, to try to grapple back lost advertising revenue, the pay-off to readers was a large daily features section. This has gradually been whittled down, but with the loss of feature writers, what's left will be filled with agency and submitted copy."

The proposed cuts would affect weekly titles in Brentwood, Chelmsford, and Thurrock as well as the Daily Echo titles in Essex.