SLP has lost £500,000 in ads to council paper

Sir Ray Tindle has claimed that the South London Press , acquired by Tindle Newspapers in August 2007, has lost more than £500,000 in advertising since the launch of council paper Lambeth Life.

Sir Ray's claim came during Friday's edition of ITV's London Tonight, which dealt with the subject of council-run newspapers.
Many ads that used to appear in SLP are now being carried instead by the fortnightly council-published Lambeth Life, which is distributed free to residents.
SLP editor-in-chief, Hannah Walker, told the programme that Life carried propaganda for Lambeth Council.

Lambeth council leader Steve Reed told London Tonight that the SLP was "a paper for bad news... it would help if they could be a little bit more positive about the area." He claimed Life was "giving residents information on how we spend their money."

You cans see the London Tonight segment on the SLP and Lambeth Life here.

Update: Sir Ray Tindle quotes as used by London Tonight did not make it clear that the £500,000 loss related only to advertising and not the paper itself.

He has since sent out a clarification stating that the SLP and Tindle Newspapers are in profit.

Sir Ray says: "What I said in an ITV interview was that as the result of the launch of a council newspaper in its area, the South London Press had lost over £500,000 in advertisement revenue. South London Press and Tindle Newspapers, its owner, are both in profit."

4:35 pm:I have updated this story following Sir Ray's statement.