±±¾©Èü³µpk10

The Daily Express was down 3.69% to 788,719 copies and the Daily Star was down 3.71% to 770,834 copies.

The Express has not shifted fewer than 800,000 copies since November last year, when it sold 796,592. By cutting the paper's cover price by 10p at the beginning of this year Desmond enjoyed figures as high as 845,234 in May, but having returned to 40p in July those gains are now gone.

Last month, Desmond wielded the axe on the Express editorial staff, cutting a tenth of its 350 journalists and announcing plans to outsource the Daily Express' business section to PA.

Rupert Murdoch's commitment to The Sun and The Times could be tested by a dismal month for both. The surprise of the month was a 3.96% drop for The Times, which is down to 656,278, while The Sun was also hit, losing 3.4% to 3,107,412.

News International had, at least, the consolation of seeing other companies' flagship titles suffering too. Associated Newspapers' Daily Mail was down 2.49% to 2,350,730 and Trinity Mirror's Daily Mirror continued its downward trend with a 2.04% fall to 1,600,452.

The picture was not as bad in the rest of the quality market, which was down 1.25% overall.

The Daily Telegraph dropped just 0.21% and is at 900,043. However, it is keeping above 900,000 copies by adding 10,000 copies to its bulk circulation, now 81,151, between September and October.

The Guardian fell by 1.15% to 384,701, but has managed to keep most of the gains it made in September. The Independent was hit harder, falling 2.88% to 257,427.

The Financial Times was the only daily title to register a gain, climbing 1.79% to 439,774, despite competition from freesheet financial paper City AM.

The popular Sunday market experienced falls across all titles for the second consecutive month, with the Sunday Mirror the biggest casualty, falling 4.38% to 1,375,820. However, it maintains the third largest circulation of any national Sunday title.

The People fell 4.01% to 789,042, followed by declines for Richard Desmond's The Daily Star Sunday, which dropped 1.62% to 397,667, and the News of The World, which decreased by 1.92% to 3,445,459, but remains the number one title in the Sunday market overall.

In the mid market, The Mail on Sunday improved by 2.54% to 2,405,901, retaining its place as the second place national Sunday title. However, the success was not matched by its rival the Sunday Express, which fell 5.45% to 792,003.

In the national Sunday quality market, The Observer matched September's steady growth, rising 6.22% to 486,471, with Scotland on Sunday following suit, climbing 3.40% to 76,939.

The Sunday Times, which was down in September, fell again by 2.82% to 1,287,099, but stays the number one title for its sector. The Independent on Sunday, which was the clear improver in September when it rose by 7.28%, is now down 1.68% to 230,184.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .