Regional publisher Johnston Press, owner of the Yorkshire Post and Scotsman, is understood to be introducing paid-for access to a small number of its weekly newspaper websites from next week.

Paywalls are expected to go up on a handful of the publishing group’s websites from Monday ahead of moves to roll the system out across the company.

The subscription system currently used by Scotsman.com to restrict access to its “premium content” will be used on the weekly sites.