Newscom, the company which publishes the Southampton Daily Echo and several other regional titles, has announced the closure of two of its free titles and the sale of two more.

The Bath Advertiser and the Bristol Advertiser, which have a combined weekly distribution of 136,000 copies, will be closed and the Swindon Messenger and the West Wiltshire Advertiser will be sold to Bristol United Press – part of the Northcliffe Newspapers Group – for £1.8 million.

The acquisition is subject to the consent of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Stephen Byers.

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