A newspaper’s plans to close its office and make all its journalists work remotely has been slammed by a local councillor.

Last week Trinity Mirror announced that the Crewe Chronicle office on Victoria Street, Crewe, would close in May with staff working from home in future.

The publisher has defended the move, which could be extended to other centres, on the grounds that it is investing in “journalism, not bricks and mortar.”

But the National Union of Journalists has opposed the decision and now a local councillor has called it a “big blow” for the area.

Coun Arthur Moran, who sits on Nantwich Town Council and Cheshire East Council, told the Nantwich News: “It is better for a newspaper to have a physical presence in a town, so to lose that is not good news.”

“A newspaper office is more than just a place for journalists to work from. It provides a drop-in for people to leave details of public notices such as funerals, or small ads, as well as snippets of news.

“I know this can be done online these days, but not everyone is comfortable with that.”

“We have had some great service and local coverage from the Chronicle, as well as Nantwich News, and we hope that coverage is not diminished.”

The Chronicle previously had an office in Nantwich as well as Crewe, but this was closed in 2005.

The NUJ is calling on Trinity Mirror to re-think the latest proposals, claiming that journalists will lose the benefits that come from working as a team

Trinity Mirror said last week: “This is a pilot to evaluate how working differently, and utilising available technology can enable us to control costs without reducing the number of journalists we employ. We’re harnessing the benefits of mobile technology to allow reporters to work in local markets and remove costly infrastructure. We want to invest in journalism not bricks and mortar.”

A Trinity Mirror spokesman said yesterday that the company would not be adding to its earlier statement.