The Metro newspaper is to close down five regional offices with the loss of 30 jobs, including employees in Glasgow.

The free daily tabloid, distributed at railway stations, is axing the editorial bases in Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham, and Bristol, which provide local arts and entertainment content.

The MediaGuardian website reported on Friday that Metro employees were told of their redundancies the day before. They have been given one month’s gardening leave to cover their redundancy period.

The Metro is published by Associated Newspapers but the company works with rival publishers to produce its regional editions.

The company told MediaGuardian it had "announced a series of potential redundancies from its regional editorial operations.

"The redundancies are part of Metro's cost reduction plans, in response to the challenging economic conditions we face.

“We will be consulting fully with employees affected by this announcement."

Metro refused to confirm the number of posts that would be lost.

The news media industry has been hit hard by an advertising recession and the flight of advertisers to online platforms.