Trinity Mirror's New Day newspaper 'to close' after just nine weeks

The newspaper The New Day is to publish its last edition on Friday 6 May, only nine weeks after it was launched. The company declined to comment, but the Spectator reported that Trinity's chief executive Simon Fox had said the paper would close if it failed to deliver results.

It was the first British newspaper to launch since the I back in 2010 and the publisher of the Daily Mirror said it wanted to target people who had "fallen out of love with newspapers".

It had an initial print run of about 2m and was launched with a £5m TV ad campaign. While the newspaper only got a circulation barely touching 40,000, there was surprise at its closure so soon.

The tabloid-style paper was priced at 50p and published Monday to Friday with each 40-page edition covering news and topical content with "a modern style and tone" and would be politically neutral.

Sources at the paper told The Guardian that they were only informed about the closure on Wednesday 4 May and that the editor Alison Phillips, who had run the Sunday Mirror and the Sunday People, was said to be distraught at the news.

Trinity will issue a trading statement will on Thursday 5 May at 7am, before the company's AGM.