Legal action against 11 councils over alleged breaches of the publicity code ‘could be taken in a matter of weeks', the Department for Communities and Local Government has warned.

The London boroughs of Tower Hamlets, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hillingdon, Lambeth, Newham and Waltham Forest, as well as Luton BC, Medway and North Somerset councils, have been given a fortnight to stop or justify how often they publish their freesheets.