The UK's newest newspaper is closing after just 9 weeks

The New Day, the UK daily print newspaper launched just nine weeks ago, will cease publication from this Friday.

The"politically-neutral" tabloid-style newspaper launched at the end of February and had aimed to reach an audience that had "fallen out of love with newspapers."

In a trading update, Trinity Mirror, which also owns The Daily Mirror, said the closure was "disappointing" but that the company gained "new insights" from launching a national newspaper in a challenging market.

The statement said:

Although The New Day has received many supportive reviews and built a strong following on Facebook, the circulation for the title is below our expectations. As a result, we have decided to close the title on 6 May 2016. Whilst disappointing, the launch and subsequent closure have provided new insights into enhancing our newspapers and a number of these opportunities will be considered over time.

As The Guardian reported, the publisher had aimed to sell 200,000 copies a day, but sales had fallen to just 30,000 copies.

The New Day's launch was backed with a £5 million ($7.3 million) advertising campaign, which included a 30-second TV ad that ran during prime-time slots. The ad proclaimed The New Day would provide a "new optimism" to the UK national news market and carried the tagline "Seize the New Day."

The New Day hit the shelves at a promotional price of 25p. Trinity Mirror aimed to double that price to 50p two weeks after launch, but the publisher held off the price increase, amid falling sales.

In Trinity Mirror's trading update, the company said: "The trading environment for print advertising continues to be volatile. We continue to focus on the delivery of our strategy, namely growing our digital audience and revenue, coupled with tight management of the cost base. At this stage, the Board anticipates performance for the year will be in line with market expectations."

Group revenue in the four months to May 1 fell 8.6% on a like-for-like basis, with a 9.3% decline in the first quarter. Print revenue dropped 11.6% in the first quarter.