The Lancashire Evening Telegraph is to close its three district offices in a move to cut costs.

Staff based in Burnley, Accrington and Darwen have been told they are to be transferred to the paper’s head office in Blackburn next month.

Six front counter staff will be made redundant as a result of the move.

Evening Telegraph owner Newsquest currently rents offices in Burnley, where three reporters are based, and in Darwen which has one reporter.

Two reporters are based in the Edgar Street offices in Accrington which the company owns, and it is not yet clear whether this will be sold.

Last year the paper’s Accrington and final editions were cut.

The latest announcement has prompted concerns about adverse effects on the paper’s coverage, with staff facing up to an hour’s drive from Blackburn to Burnley.

One staff member, who asked not to be named, said: “We feel that editorially it is a very bad decision – how can you cover an area where you have no presence?

“They have bought a couple of laptops so we can file stories from our cars, but no-one has told us how we will be working practically.

“This just seems to be a short-term cost saving that will have a damaging long-term impact that will be much greater.”

In addition, HoldtheFrontPage understands that the Oxford Mail and Swindon Advertiser are to cut their second editions.

The Mail prints its first edition overnight and is available in the shops by 8.30am, with a second edition currently available from around 1pm.

The Advertiser’s first edition is printed at 4.30am. A later edition had been reinstated last year but this has now been stopped.

Newsquest declined to comment on either development.

The changes come in the wake of editorial reviews at Newsquest centres in York and High Wycombe, Watford and St Albans, which look set to result in more than a dozen editorial job losses and the closure of its office in St Albans.

Job cuts have also hit the group’s Scottish titles, the Glasgow Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times.