THE sale of the Observer — the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper — to loss-making start-up Tortoise Media was announced today, hours after a historic two-day strike by journalists over the plans.

National Union of Journalists general secretary-elect Laura Davison said: “Members at the Guardian and Observer will be angry and extremely disappointed that the Scott Trust and Guardian Media Group (GMG) boards have chosen to approve the deal in principle to sell the Observer to Tortoise Media, despite the union’s call for more time to consider this and other options.”

The deal will plug £25 million into the Sunday newspaper, with a commitment to print the Observer on a Sunday and a plan to build it into a digital brand, the boards of owner the Scott Trust and GMG announced.