Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday to 'slim down'

The Scotsman and Scotland on Sunday newspapers are to be slimmed down, with more journalist jobs being cut, BBC Scotland understands.

The number of pages in the Edinburgh-based daily will be reduced, and magazine supplements will be axed.

The Sunday paper will re-designed in a tabloid format. The changes will be introduced from early January.

Sales of the Scotsman fell by 17% in the year to July, to below 30,000 per day.

Scotland on Sunday sales between January and July were down 20% to 37,000.

The titles' owner, Johnston Press, is under intense pressure to cut costs, to get its large debt down.

Company insiders have said there was a strong response to the management's call for redundancy volunteers over recent weeks.

The editor of the Scotsman, Ian Stewart, was unavailable for comment.