The Times and the Sunday Times are set to charge for access to their websites from June.

Rupert Murdoch said in August last year he wanted to charge for all his sites, though in November he suggested the firm could miss the June deadline.

Rebekah Brooks, chief executive at News International, said: “These new sites, and the apps that will enhance the experience, reflect the identity of our titles and deliver a terrific experience for readers ... this is a crucial step towards making the business of news an economically exciting proposition."

Other Murdoch titles, like The Sun and The News of the World , will follow The Times behind a paywall sometime after June.

The Times will charge £1 a day for access to the site - or £2 a week. Subscribers to seven days of the print edition will get free access to the websites - the Sunday Times gets its own site for the first time.

The sites will launch in May for a free trial period - you can register here.

The move will be closely watched by the struggling UK newspaper business. Although The Telegraph saw profits for the year jump a third to £41m the Guardian Media Group was more typical - its losses grew by a third to £37m for the year ended 29 March 2009. ®