Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw has issued a scathing condemnation of the council-owned “propaganda sheets” which are replacing independent newspapers in many areas.

Speaking to Sunday Mirror political editor Vincent Moss the former local newspaper reporter and BBC journalist said: “You’ve got local authorities that are spending a considerable amount of council taxpayers’ money employing armies of press officers to produce these propaganda sheets masquerading as newspapers.

“They remind me of (Soviet state newspaper) Pravda and papers I knew from my times in East Germany as a BBC correspondent. If the only information you’re getting is misleading propaganda put out by politicians from one particular party, I think that’s very dangerous.”