A planned strike at a group of weeklies in South London has been put back by three days following a legal challenge.

National Union of Journalists’ members at Newsquest’s South London titles had been due to begin a 12-day stoppage today over reorganisation proposals and pay.

The strike will now take place between Thursday 18 June and Wednesday 1 July.

Journalists at the titles are being faced with redundancy or a pay cut as part of a cost-cutting drive which will a number of senior roles disappear and 16 weeklies placed under a single group managing editor.

The union said in a statement: “Facing the possibility of a legal challenge, after the company raised a technical issue with the original strike notice, the chapel has decided to reschedule rather than have the dispute overshadowed by legal arguments.

“The union is confident that the company’s objections to the original notice were without basis.”

The South London chapel is demanding 3pc salary increase and a rethink on the restructuring proposals.

Titles affected by the changes include the eight-edition South London Guardian series, the six-edition News Shopper series and the Surrey Comet, Elmbridge Comet, and the Richmond & Twickenham Times