Business coverage looks set to be hit at Reach plc after it emerged that five specialist editors have left the publisher.

Reach - which publishes the Gloucester Citizen, Gloucestershire Echo and Western Daily Press, amongst many other national and regional publications - announced last month it was looking to shed 450 jobs, including 320 editorial roles, reports the Hold the Front Page  (HTFP) website.

So far the cuts have seen the closure of 13 of the publisher's Live-branded websites and a reduction in some football and rugby league coverage.

However, the cutbacks now appear to be extending into other areas of editorial coverage, with some regional business editor roles being axed.

Reach's specialist BusinessLive website is set to continue to operate, but it will do with fewer dedicated staff, with five regional business editors who previously contributed to the platform all leaving at the end of last month. They included Andrew Arthur who covered the South West..

According to HTFP, their departures leave BusinessLive with one reporter each covering Wales, the South West and the West Midlands, but no dedicated reporting staff in some other regions.

BusinessLive is a newsletter-first publication and it is understood that content for the newsletters will now be taken directly from the 'Live' network around the country.

HTFP said Reach declined to comment on the BusinessLive departures or give further details on how the site will operate from now on.