Soft porn tycoon Richard Desmond who recently bought Express Newspapers for £125 million sterling, has sold off the group's internet assets for £1.
Mr Desmond is understood to have been shocked at the rate at which the four websites were burning cash, and has put the 50 staff on notice of redundancy. The sites were said to be costing about £7 million a year to run.
Express Newspapers includes the British Daily Express and Daily Star, and the company also has a share-holding in the Irish Star.
Meanwhile United newspapers, who sold the newspaper group to Desmond, has announced it is to cut back investment plans in the intrnet from £370 million to £180 million.
