Speculation mounts over Birmingham dailies

Speculation is mounting in the blogosphere over the future of the Trinity Mirror owned titles in Birmingham.

Nearly two months ago, the company launched a wide-ranging consultation over the future of the Birmingham Post and Mail.

Options under consideration included turning the Post into a weekly title and printing the Mail overnight. It is believed this would save around £1m a year on van runs.

Trinity Mirror is saying nothing officially as yet, but two Birmingham-based blogs are claiming that an announcement on the proposed moves is imminent.

Philip Parkin, operations director of the Birmingham Press Club, writes on his blog that "the coming week promises to be a significant one for The Birmingham Post."

"My spies tell me that this is the week that the announcement about the newspaper’s future is due to be made, with the switch to weekly happening sometime in late November," he says.

Another Birmingham blogger calling himself The Stirrer goes further, saying the announcement will be made today.

"Expect fireworks from newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror in the next 24 hours, with confirmation that the Birmingham Post is going weekly – possibly as early as November 5," he wrote yesterday, claiming staff have already been told that "major changes" on both titles are imminent.

3.30pm UPDATE: It's now official. The Birmingham Post is to go weekly, the Mail is to go to overnight printing, and both their editors have decided to leave. All the details over at HoldtheFrontPage.