Carlisle City Council’s leader has agreed to allow members of the National Union of Journalists to meet at a civic centre after a Newsquest ban on all union meetings at its HQ in the Cumbrian city.

The NUJ has said the decision from the regional publisher has ended “decades of co-operation” between the Carlisle NUJ Chapel and Cumbrian Newspapers (CN Group), which Newsquest bought in February this year.

Chapel members have accused Newsquest of having an “aggressive attitude to the union”, saying that “in the past, managers have always treated the chapel with respect and consideration”.