Around 70 jobs are under threat at the Express & Star in Wolverhampton, the Shropshire Star and their sister weeklies.

The Midland News Association, which publishes the newspapers, has told staff it is looking to cut around 70 jobs across the group, and has launched a voluntary redundancy scheme.

Its weekly titles include the Newport and Market Drayton Advertiser and the Chronicle series, which covers Wolverhampton, Walsall & Willenhall, Sandwell & Great Barr, Dudley & Halesowen, Stourbridge, Kidderminster, Cannock & Rugeley, Lichfield and Stafford & Stone.

The group says it has suffered a significant decline in advertising revenues, and as result has to cut overheads.

A company statement said: "The MNA is launching a voluntary redundancy scheme open to all staff. The aim is to reduce the current labour force by around 70 jobs.

"If not enough people come forward voluntarily then compulsory redundancy may have to be considered."

Alan Harris, managing director of the Express & Star, said that until now the company had attempted to absorb the impact of reduced income in the hope that trading conditions would improve. However, this had not been the case and there seemed to be no sign of things getting better in the immediate future.

He said the Board had no alternative other than to take action to protect the future of the business, with forecasts pointing to the coming year being a particularly difficult one.

A 30-day consultation period is now under way.