The company, which owns the Evening Times, The Herald and Sunday Herald, informed staff of the job losses, 20 of which are in editorial, and apparently due to a downturn in business.

The news came at the same time as a £1m restructure of operations was unveiled in a bid to create a 24/7 multimedia newsroom.

The editorial staff at all three papers "will collaborate within a new multimedia publishing operation", according to Newsquest, in an operation to produce real-time news, text, pictures and video in whichever medium customers demand.

Insiders have revealed that Herald editor Charles McGee addressed his editorial staff on the redundanciess within earshot of Evening Times staff at the shared premsies.

But the Evening Times team had to wait until their editor Donald Martin was ready to read a prepared statement to them later - only after he had finished informing his more senior management team.

Volunteers for redundancy will be sought during a consultation period which began yesterday.

No one from Newsquest was available for comment on the developments.

But a statement on the multimedia changes from the centre's managing director Tim Blott said: "Consultation with staff will begin immediately as the editors of all three titles begin to determine the exact structures and working practices needed to produce the content essential for the current market."

A pilot project is already under way, centred on a "news hub" operation.

Later this month a new state-of-the-art £1m Atex editorial publishing system will be fully operational and new combined newspaper website for The Herald and Sunday Herald will also be unveiled.

Tim Blott said: "We will be discussing with our staff and trade unions the effects of these changes but I am confident that ... the Herald & Times Group is well-equipped for a successful future.

"The restructuring is taking place during a difficult time for the newspaper industry in general, with circulation and advertising revenues increasingly under challenge from the rapid growth of online media and the current economic downturn."

The three titles have a 100 per cent NUJ membership - 220 people - meaning a cut in editorial staff of around 10 per cent.

Last summer staff took industrial action over the proposed compulsory redundancy of a sub-editor. Union members staged a 24-hour walk out in July, followed by further strike action in the following weeks.

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