Johnston Press chief executive has told staff that the planned relaunch of it regional newspaper portfolio is being delayed – and admitted that some of its feedback was “not so good”.

Johnston announced it was relaunching 170 of its paid-for titles – excluding only The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, The Yorkshire Post and The News Letter – shortly after it emerged that five of its daily papers were switching to weeklies: The Scarborough Evening News, Halifax Courier, Northampton Chronicle and Echo, Peterborough Evening Telegraph and Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph.

The plan is for every title to slot into one of four new templates depending on local demographics.