Nuts, the weekly that along with arch-rival Zoo shook up the men's magazine market a decade ago but attracted criticism for their sexist portrayal of women, is to close.

IPC Media said on Monday that it had entered a 30-day consultation with the 25 staff who work on the Nuts magazine and Nuts.co.uk website about the closure.

Paul Williams, managing director of IPC's Inspire division, said: "After 10 years at the top of its market, we have taken the difficult decision to propose the closure of Nuts and exit the young men's lifestyle sector. IPC will provide impacted staff with all the support they need during the consultation process."

Nuts launched in January 2004, just ahead of Bauer Media's Zoo, and at the height of its popularity had an average weekly circulation of more than 300,000.

However, both magazines have suffered years of sales decline, along with most other paid-for titles in the men's sector. Nuts had a circulation of just over 53,000 in print in the second half of 2013, according to the latest official ABC sales figures, plus nearly 9,000 digital editions.

Zoo, which has always lagged behind Nuts in sales terms, had a circulation of less than 30,000 in the same period.

Nuts and Zoo's circulations dropped by one third year on year in the second half of 2013, after both titles' publishers pulled them from Co-op stores.

This came after they refused the supermarket chain's demand that both magazines be distributed with modesty bags to shield pictures of naked women from shoppers.

The retailer said it was acting on the concerns of its customers when it ordered Nuts, Zoo, Front and Loaded to hide their lurid front covers or be taken off its shelves.

Nuts and Zoo were defined from the outset by publishing more overtly sexual content than more expensive monthly rivals such as Loaded and FHM, which were forced go more downmarket in response.

However, after 2007 sales of both weeklies went into longterm decline, not least because readers who wanted to look at scantily clad, topless or naked women could find far more risqué material online for free.

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