Controversial council newspaper H&F News is to be scrapped within months.

The Hammersmith and Fulham Council paper will be withdrawn in April in response to new rules drawn up by local government secretary Eric Pickles, who earlier this year pledged to put an end to 'propaganda on the rates'.

It also follows a vigorous campaign by the Chronicle urging the authority to stop printing what we believe to be a biased political publication masquerading as an independent local newspaper.

An existing email newsletter version of H&F News will survive, and the council is now looking for a buyer to take over advertising contracts thought to be worth around £375,000. In return, it will expect to be given a proportion of advertising revenue and a regular slot for council information in an independent paper or magazine.

A tender initially put out by the authority to attract a buyer was withdrawn last week (4) amid concern from Mr Pickles that by creating a partnership with a independent company, the council would seek to bypass strict new guidelines limiting the frequency and style of local authority news sheets.

A revised tender is now being drawn up and will be issued after a 'meet the buyers' event on November 18.

A council spokesman said: "Once we stop producing H&F News we want to use the legacy of its commercial success to secure the best possible deal for the council's future advertising and communication needs. That is has always been our intention and remains our intention. The newspaper we choose to have a contract with will always be 100 per cent independent of us.

"For many years newspaper industry have been calling for councils to use local newspapers to communicate to residents rather than setting up their own magazines and newspapers. That's exactly what we will be doing."

Labour opposition leader Stephen Cowan welcomed the decision to scrap H&F News but questioned other promotional tools still being used by the council, such as glossy leaflets, posters in prominent sites around the borough and direct mail to residents.

He said: "The demise of H&F News is to be welcomed and the Chronicle should be proud of the high profile role it played in supporting the many campaigns to make this happen.

"Sadly, the administration still plans to keep other aspects of their propaganda machine going."