Council leaders have hit back at communities secretary Eric Pickles after he threatened legal action against five local authority newspapers and dubbed them ‘town hall Pravdas’.

The minister has accused them of breaching the publicity code by running content that is not objective or even-handed and of being published too frequently. Greenwich, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Waltham Forest councils have until the end of the month to respond to the allegations.

Mr Pickles said: ‘It is scandalous that bloggers have been handcuffed for tweeting from council meetings, while propaganda on the rates drives the free press out of business. Only Putin would be proud of a record like that.

‘Localism needs robust and independent scrutiny by the press and public, and municipal state-produced newspapers suppress that. “Town Hall Pravdas” not only waste taxpayers’ money unnecessarily, they undermine free speech.’

But Cllr Peter Fleming, chair of the Local Government Association’s improvement and innovation board, said residents should decide how councils communicate with them – and how often.

‘We’ve not been shown evidence council publications compete unfairly with the local press,’ he said. ‘The reality is that local newspaper circulations are on the decline and are not always the best way of reaching residents with key information.

‘Council magazines have proved to be the cheapest and most effective way for them to tell people about local services, events and issues. Councils should be free to make decisions based on what works for their communities and on feedback from their residents who, if [they] are unhappy, can make their feelings known locally.’

The five London boroughs could face a court order if they do not comply with the publicity code, which was strengthened by the coalition government.

Cllr Fleming argued councils already subsidise the local newspaper industry by £40bn a year as a result of being legally obliged to pay for statutory notices.

‘We would urge the government to reform the outdated regulations which require councils to spend taxpayers’ money on expensive adverts in local newspapers,’ he said.