Up to 85 jobs could go at Trinity Mirror Midlands, it has emerged.

The newspaper publisher announced today that it had entered a period of consultation with advertisers, staff and trade union representatives about the way forward for the business.

As a result, the company said job losses were "inevitable" with the National Union of Journalists saying it could be as many as 85 – a figure confirmed by Trinity Mirror this afternoon – but it is not known at this stage how many of these will be in editorial.

Among the key discussions due to take place is whether to reduce the frequency of the five-day a week Birmingham Post and move the Birmingham Mail to overnight printing.

The division, which also publishes the Coventry Telegraph, Sunday Mercury and weeklies in the Midlands, is running at a forecast loss of £6m for 2010.

The NUJ first claimed the Post would go weekly in June.

General secretary Jeremy Dear said: "Trinity Mirror Midlands managers refused to confirm these proposals even when we put them in the public domain.

"Trinity Mirror managers have been shown to be irresponsible with regard to the truth and their attitude to their newspapers and the communities they serve.

"The union will fight to defend the jobs of journalists and the future of the Post. If there are other publishers interested in the title, Trinity Mirror should be prepared to sell."

Referring to proposals for the Mail, he added: "Without the ability to cover breaking news the Mail will lose a key selling point.

"If carried through today's proposals constitute a major attack on journalists and journalism in the UK's second biggest city.

"The NUJ will support our members in Birmingham in whatever action they decide to take to stand up for journalism."

A spokesman for Trinity Mirror said: "We can confirm that the number of job losses is likely to be between 60 and 85.

"Although these affect the whole Trinity Mirror Midlands region, we anticipate the majority will come from the Birmingham titles."