Johnston Press titles have seen circulations decline sharply with the Scotsman's standing at almost half 2007 level of 60,627

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

Up to 30 editorial jobs are understood to be under threat at the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday as parent company Johnston Press unveils its latest restructuring of the ailing titles.

The latest cuts at the two newspapers are thought to amount to almost a third of the editorial staff.

A spokesman for Johnston Press declined to comment, and was not able to confirm what proportion of total editorial roles the loss of staff represents.

The regional newspaper publisher, which cut almost a quarter of its staff nationwide last year, pulled the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday from the monthly official Audit Bureau of Circulations measurement report in January.

The monthly ABC figures are favoured by national titles, but the move to six-monthly audits of the sales of the Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday is a symbolic sign of the decline of the titles in recent years.

In the Scotsman's case, its sale in January was recorded as 32,435, only 21,806 of which were sold at the full cover price. That represented a year-on-year drop of 17.5%.

Scotland of Sunday's circulation fall, to a January average of 38,493, was worse. That was 24% fewer than in January 2012.

The decline of the Scotsman, acquired by Johnston Press from Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay in 2005 for £160m, has been precipitous with circulation half the 2007 level of 60,627.

In January, Andrew Richardson, managing director of Johnston Press's Scottish operations, was ousted in a restructure.

The same month, Ashley Highfield, the chief executive of Johnston Press, told the company's 4,350 staff that a six-month pay freeze would continue until at least July.

Last week, he said he did not envisage having to make the level of cuts seen in 2012 when more than 23%, or 1,300, of Johnston Press staff were cut.

"Following an organisational review, The Scotsman Publications Ltd is proposing a restructure which could result in a reduction of staff within the editorial department," managing director Stuart Birkett said in a short statement.

"The aim of these proposals is to improve operating efficiency, whilst maintaining the company's competitive position in the market.

"We have started the consultation process directly with those affected and the NUJ, and every effort will be made to minimise the impact of these proposals through voluntary redundancy and redeployment."

• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email media@theguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook.