An owner of two free newspapers who claimed that Newsquest and Johnston Press unfairly forced him out of the market has lost an appeal against an Office of Fair Trading decision which ruled the big groups had not broken competition laws.

Terry Brannigan complained that the OFT had not acted properly in dealing with his case, but his appeal has been dismissed following a Competition Appeal tribunal.

He had contacted the OFT after launching Lewes Life in Lewes, East Sussex, and Uckfield Life in nearby Uckfield, and subsequently running into financial difficulties and being declared bankrupt.

He had complained to the OFT that a few months after he launched his papers Newsquest also launched a free weekly newspaper in Uckfield, and he alleged that the group used the paper to defend the revenue of its paid-for titles against competition from him.

He also claimed Newsquest only retaliated against his Uckfield paper because it and Johnston Press had a tacit agreement that neither would produce a free paper in the Lewes area, and that Newsquest offered below-cost rates to advertisers if they promised not to advertise in Lewes Life or Uckfield Life.

The OFT ruled that Newsquest and Johnston Press had done nothing wrong, but Mr Brannigan appealed against the decision – claiming the OFT had not acted properly.

He said the OFT had failed to provide him with an opportunity to submit comments before adopting its decision, had wrongly defined the relevant geographic market, and was wrong to conclude that Newsquest and Johnston Press were neither individually nor collectively dominant in the area.

Media Lawyer reports that the appeal was dismissed after the tribunal found there was not sufficient evidence to find that any of the alleged conduct had gone beyond what would be a permissible competitive response to a market entrant.