THE crackdown on ‘town hall pravdas’ such as Greenwich Time looks finally set to make it into law.

During the Queen’s Speech, the Local Audit and Accountability Bill was announced which aims to protect the free press from local council papers and “propaganda”.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has long been against town hall papers like Greenwich Council’s free weekly – which continued publishing in spite of the terms of the Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity.

Ministers announced the new bill’s aims are to “tackle town hall pravdas” and “deliver the Coalition Agreement pledge to impose tougher rules to protect the independent free press from unfair competition by town hall newspapers and propaganda.”

Mr Pickles said: “This government is reining in the quango state, saving taxpayers’ money and giving more power to local people.

“This bill extends the government’s localism agenda - ensuring robust scrutiny of council spending, strengthening the role of direct democracy and protecting an independent free press.”

A Greenwich Council spokesman said it was inappropriate for them to comment until the outcome of the government's consultation into the matter.