Journalists at Brighton’s The Argus were this morning beginning the second day of their 48-hour strike in protest at plans to centralise its subbing operation after winning the backing of most of the city’s MPs.

Members of the National Union of Journalists voted 91pc in favour of taking the action earlier this month.

The move comes after plans to centralise its subbing operation at the Southampton home of the Southern Daily Echo were revealed, resulting in job losses.

The strikers say their first day of action received wide-spread support from politicians in the city and local people.

So far they have received messages of support from Brighton Kemp Town MP Simon Kirby, Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion), Mike Weatherley (Hove and Portslade) and Peter Bottomley (Worthing West) as well as Labour peer Lord Bassam and Brighton and Hove City Coucil leader Mary Mears.

Ms Lucas said: “As a local paper, the Argus is key to encouraging a sense of pride in our communities, and provides a forum for people to talk about their achievements and debate the future of the city.

“This is a service that must be maintained and well resourced which is why I’m opposed to these misguided attempts by the Newsquest owners to pare down to a skeleton staff and move sub-editors to a completely different city.

“Sadly, when you put ownership of the media, especially local media, in the hands of distant multinational corporations like Newsquest, the reality is that key decisions are made by people who have no real appreciation for the consequences on the ground.”

A spokesperson for the Argus NUJ chapel said: “We’ve been truly overwhelmed by the support we’ve received today.

“There has been a non-stop symphony of tooting horns from passing motorists, and workers also facing the prospect of the sack coming along to join us on the picket line to show their support.

“It’s clear that people immediately understand that sacking local staff in the name of providing a local service more cheaply is madness. The whole city seems to be right behind us.”

Seven sub-editing posts at The Argus are expected to be reduced to two under the changes while Worthing Sentinel editor Paul Holden was also made redundant when the paper closed.

Newsquest chief executive Paul Davidson was not available for comment at the time of publication.