Titles in Milton Keynes, Luton, and Northampton will be closed.

All closing titles are free weekly newspapers, and form part of the Local World Group which was purchased by Trinity Mirror in November 2015 in a deal worth £220M.

When last audited by ABC, Luton on Sunday had a distribution of 68, 000 copies while The Northampton Herald and Post had a circulation of 48, 000 copies.

OneMK was not audited by ABC.

NUJ national organiser Laura Davison said: “This announcement has come as a bombshell to staff on these titles. Once again Trinity Mirror has announced a shutdown of papers with no consultation with journalists or readers. Local people, democratic bodies and businesses are going to be stripped of a voice and plurality will be massively undermined.

“The company’s actions smack of arrogance. These operations are already run on a shoe string and now more jobs are set to go. It is another big red warning flag hoisted over the crisis in quality local journalism. We urge local people to join our campaign for properly resourced local journalism.

“Other Local World centres have been reorganised, merged and staff cut since the Trinity Mirror take over. They have been treated as the poor relation with poverty pay and only statutory minimum redundancy pay outs.”

A Trinity Mirror spokesperson said: “We are closing three free weekly titles in Luton, Milton Keynes and Northampton as part of a review of our portfolio to look at how we best serve our readers and advertisers in these markets.

“We are not exiting these markets but will retain a presence in a different way. We believe there is a better way for us to provide content and commercial solutions for the local communities, for example through a schedule of niche products and awards and events.

“We will also be increasing the focus on Bedfordshire on Sunday which remains as both a print title and website. We will be increasing distribution of this title into Luton and broadening our online coverage.

“The number of roles we require to deliver the new portfolio of products is less than the current structure and as a result the business proposes to reduce the headcount, so unfortunately a number of roles in editorial and commercial are at risk of redundancy as part of these changes.”