The UK government has announced it will launch an investigation that will explore how the newspaper industry will function in the future.

In a speech held in Manchester, Prime Minister Theresa May said the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport would conduct a review in to the overall health of news media, looking at the range of national and local publications available and how the press is adapting to digital media.

Mrs May stated that “in recent years - especially in local journalism - we’ve seen falling circulations” and this has sparked “fears for the future sustainability of high quality journalism”.

According to the National Federation of Independent Retailers, independent news retailers are responsible for 60% of all newspaper sales in the UK.

In response to the announcement, National President of the NFRN Linda Sood said: “A diverse and plural press is critical to local communities and newspaper stockists alike so we welcome the investigation and hope that news retailers can play a full part within it.”