The Sunday Mirror continues to profit most from the closure of the News of the World with a 56.5 per cent year-on-year sales increase in October to 1,773,627, adding 640,371 copies to the figure for October 2010.

According to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, the title saw a 3.9 per cent sales dip on last month but has added 757,887 copies to its circulation since June, the last audited month before the closure of the News of the World.

The Daily Star Sunday saw the greatest year-on-year increase in October of all audited titles, with a 97.9 per cent year-on-year hike to 688,058, nearly doubling its sales for the same month last year.

The Northern & Shell title continues to see the biggest percentage increases from the closure of the News of the World, with its circulation increase way above the 54 per cent average for Sunday tabloids.

The other significant beneficiary of News International's decision to close its flagship Sunday tabloid is the People, published by the same group as the Sunday Mirror, which saw a 58.1 per cent increase to 804,126.

The Mail on Sunday enjoyed a slight monthly increase in sales in October, up 1 per cent to just back over the 2 million mark at 2,000,251. The mid-market title edition dipped back below 2 million in September after dropping 120,000 copies, which followed a 150,000-copy sales dip in August.

Daily Star Sunday stablemate the Sunday Express also enjoyed another boost from News of the World readers with a 23.2 per cent increase to 679,265.

Reports earlier this week suggested that News International was reviving plans to re-enter the Sunday market with a Sunday edition of the Sun, taking on around 60 new staff and producing a dummy edition.

The arrest last week of a senior reporter at the Sun, James Pyatt, in relation to corrupt payments to the police threatens to spread the fallout from the phone hacking scandal to the UK's biggest-selling daily however, and yesterday James Murdoch refused to rule out closing the title if allegations of criminality are proven.

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