THE chief executive of Newsquest Media Group, which owns the Gazette & Herald and Wiltshire Times, has written to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport expressing grave concerns at calls to bring into force the costs sanctions for the press.

In his letter to Karen Bradley, Henry Faure Walker said: “I am the chief executive of Newsquest Media Group, the second largest publisher of regional newspapers in the UK, representing 160 well-known local titles.

“I write on behalf of the group and its editors to express our grave concerns at the calls made upon you to bring into force the costs sanctions under section 40 of the Crime And Courts Act 2013.

“We have no doubt that the consequences of doing so will be devastating for the local press and for the principle of press freedom in our democratic society.

“It is no secret that the purpose of section 40 is to force the press into a state-ordained system of compulsory regulation.

“It is designed to do this by taking away from publishers who do not sign up to that system their right in law to recover their costs in libel, privacy and other media cases in the courts.

“We will have to pay not only our own costs but the other side’s costs as well, whether we win or lose.

“The ancient principle of equality under the law is thrown out. Everyone else will get their costs back if they win, but not if you belong to this ostracised class.

“The fundamental injustice is clear. We are to be punished by the imposition of crippling legal costs for doing our job, for being successful in reporting matters of public interest and vindicating in a court our lawful and responsible journalism.”

The letter says claimants will be queuing up to be paid for the pleasure of losing claims against newspapers.

“The compelling logic of this extraordinary statutory provision will not be lost on claimants’ lawyers,” he said.

“They will know that their fees will be covered. And the actual merits of their claim will hardly matter.”

Mr Faure Walker said the press would lose its ability to hold to account those who wield power.

“The health of our democratic society will surely suffer," he said.

“The commercial position of the regional press is extremely fragile as it undergoes fundamental economic and technological change.

“Newspapers are now being asked to choose between their long-term survival and the abandonment of hard-won press freedoms stretching back more than 300 years.”

Regional editor Gary Lawrence said: “For papers like ours, which champion the cause of readers, this unjust rule would be a disaster. It cannot be right that individuals and organisations can hold a newspaper to ransom in this way.”

"I have called on all of Wiltshire’s MPs to support us by petitioning the minister.

“Colleagues overseas cannot believe a country seen as a beacon of democratic freedom could be taking such a draconian measure.”