The UK's local newspaper industry lost about £225m in revenue last year as regional publishers invested heavily online but failed to counter declining circulation and advertising revenue in print, according to figures obtained by the Financial Times.

In a survey of its membership to be published today, the Newspaper Society found that the number of websites owned by the 85 regional or local paper groups in Britain grew by a third to 1,102, while new magazines and other niche publications rose 21 per cent to 755.