Circulation of the London Independent, which is 46 per cent owned by Independent Newspapers, has plummeted to an all-time low of just over 227,000, despite a £12 million redesign and relaunch last September. The drop in circulation is revealed in the latest monthly figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations in Britain.

The December circulation of 227,060 represents a fall of almost 12 per cent on November's 256,840, while, on July-December figures, average daily sales fell 2 per cent to just over 260,000. However, the December ABC figures suggest that circulation is falling rapidly and that the next six-month figures will show a severe drop in circulation unless radical action is taken.

At it peak in 1990-1991, the Independent was selling almost 400,000 copies daily, but the £12 million relaunch was aimed at stemming circulation losses that almost closed the newspaper group before it was rescued by a Mirror Independent Newspapers consortium.

The daily paper's sister publication, the Independent on Sunday, also saw a sharp fall in its December circulation - from 291,102 to 266,530, the second consecutive month that circulation had fallen below the critical 300,000 level. For the six months between July and December, the Sunday's average circulation was fractionally higher at 287,543 copies.

However, the fall in circulation in recent months will once again put a question mark over the future of the British newspaper group, which has lost more than £100 million since its inception and into which Independent Newspapers has invested more than £40 million.

Losses in 1996 were £15 million and were £5 million in the first half of 1997, before the expensive and so far unsuccessful relaunch.