Following after the Independent, the new smaller edition will be available in London only from next Wednesday.

Aimed at commuters on crowded trains and buses, it will sell alongside the existing broadsheet version, allowing people to choose which one to buy.

The Times said the "compact" edition would be "very, very different to the average tabloid", as it will share the values and the content of the original.

The Independent enjoyed a 20,000 increase in circulation when it launched its tabloid version in October, becoming the first newspaper in the world to be produced to two sizes.

The chief executive of Independent news and media UK, Ivan Fallon told the BBC that the Times has followed its lead, even down to copying its advertising slogan.

Debasing

Rupert Murdoch, the owner of the Times, told reporters in Italy earlier this week that he could not have produced a tabloid version of the 218-year-old paper without the Independent having gone first.

He said: "If I had done it (first) I'd have been ridiculed for debasing the Times."

"But I'm glad the Independent has gone ahead because now we can try to do it without any problems."

The Independent plans to roll-out its tabloid across the UK, but the Times said it had no intention to follow suit at present.