The National Union of Journalists has lobbied Trinity Mirror shareholders over plans to shut a regional newspaper office.

At the publisher’s annual general meeting yesterday, a letter was handed to shareholders raising concerns about the closure of the company’s office in Caernarfon.

Trinity Mirror announced in March it was planning to shut the office in Eastgate Street in June, which is home to the Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald, district staff working for the Daily Post, the Yr Herald Cymraeg supplement, and the Bangor and Holyhead Mails.

At the meeting, Paul Scott, NUJ NEC member for Wales, told the Trinity Mirror board there were ways of cutting costs while ensuring staff remained in their local newspaper office.

The letter handed to shareholders said: “We fear that this office closure, on top of the persistent cuts to editorial and other staff that have been made in recent years, will weaken your position in these communities, lead to reduced newspaper sales and advertising revenue and the loss of local readers’ loyalty.

“In two weeks of campaigning, it has become clear to us that public opinion is strong and unequivocal on this issue.”

The company is also planning to close the office of the Runcorn and Widness Weekly News at the end of June.

The NUJ also said that while the company was paying out its first dividend for six years, it should consider greater rewards for its staff.

The union launched a petition to save the newspaper office last month, saying that Caernarfon was an important hub and a traditional centre of publishing.