THE crowded street outside Moorgate Tube station in the City hardly seemed like an obvious place to witness the opening shots in Britain’s latest media war.

As hundreds of commuters inched their way through the ticket barriers last Wednesday evening, many would have barely noticed an enthusiastic young woman handing out copies of a hitherto-unseen newspaper called London Lite.

“Take a copy. Go on, you know you want to,” she yelled at passers-by.

Back in the Kensington headquarters of Associated Newspapers, the country’s biggest newspaper publisher, executives were waiting for feedback on the first day’s distribution of the latest free newspaper that targets affluent commuters.

Little more than five years ago none existed. But from tomorrow, Londoners will be able to get their hands on four free newspapers at various times of the day. Associated will have the lion’s share, with the Metro morning freesheet and London Lite.

City AM, the independently-owned morning business paper whose circulation success has surprised many in the newspaper business, appeared on the scene last year.

And tomorrow, at about 4.30pm, a new army will hit the streets of the capital with Thelondonpaper, the first title to be launched in Britain by News International, owner of The Sunday Times.

What is the reason for this sudden explosion of new titles? Like so much else in today’s media industry, it is explained largely by the internet. The rise of online “social networks” such as MySpace (also owned by News Corporation) has eroded newspapers’ appeal to younger consumers. The publishers are determined to win them back.

And soon, there might be even more competition. Richard Desmond, owner of the Express and Star national titles, has been eyeing Associated’s grip on the freesheet market for some time. “We continue to look at it every hour,” said Desmond this weekend.

Even for newspaper barons such as Desmond, Viscount Rothermere, chairman of Associated Newspapers, and Rupert Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News International’s parent company, News Corporation, the new afternoon freesheets are uncharted territory. While few are betting with confidence on the outcome, they are relishing the prospect of another battle between the two toughest competitors in the British newspaper business.

For Rothermere, scion of the newspaper dynasty, the stakes could hardly be higher. Associated blazed a trail for free newspapers in Britain with the launch of the Metro morning freesheet in London in March 1999, but it has been feeling the heat in the paid-for market for some time.

An attempt to sell the regional newspaper arm of Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), Associated’s owner, ended in ignominy last year when bidders failed to meet the asking price.

Meanwhile, the Evening Standard has been struggling to attract younger readers and, with them, the lucrative advertising money splashed out by blue-chip companies.