The Guardian surges in paid-for newspaper market

A number of other papers played the giveaway game, including The Times with a series of film posters and The Daily Telegraph with Roald Dahl posters and audio book CDs.

The Times edged the circulation battle, climbing 1.23% to 683,333 while the Telegraph rose just 0.41% to 901,930.

A solid month for the quality press was rounded off with a 3.76% increase for the Financial Times to 432,036.

In the mid-market, the Daily Express dropped 1.27% while the Daily Mail, which offered readers British shore life wallcharts and David Attenborough wildlife programme DVDs, rose 1.23% to 2,410,641.

However, the red-top market suffered. The Daily Star dropped 3.4% to 800,569 and the Daily Mirror fell 1.76% to 1,633,708 -- just beneath its previous low of 1,634,006 in May this year.

The Sun escaped relatively unscathed, falling just 0.21% to 3,216,918 copies.

The Racing Post fell 8.41% to 69,615 in its last month of competition with the now defunct Sportsman.

In the Sunday market, it was a less than happy month for the popular Sunday titles, where, the Sunday Sport excepted, every newspaper recorded a drop in circulation. The People was the biggest faller, diving 4.40% to 822,014, and the Daily Star Sunday following suit, down 4.15% to 404,209.

The Sunday Mirror fell 1.72% to 1,438,829, but remains the UK's third placed Sunday title. The News of The World retains its first placed Sunday position, albeit down 0.73% to 3,512,927.

The Sunday Sport rose a marginal 0.42% to 107,926, but is down 28.24% year on year.

In the national quality Sunday market, the Independent on Sunday emerged as the clear improver, rising 7.28% to 234,121. The Observer also showed steady growth, increasing 4.12% to 458,002, and The Sunday Telegraph, which remains in second place in the sector, rose 3.48% to 676,400.

With its cover price up to £2, the Sunday Times fell by 2.22% to 1,324,475, but remains the clear leader in the quality Sunday sector despite being the most expensive.

In the mid market, The Mail on Sunday rose 2.65% to 2,346,236, making it the second best-selling Sunday title overall, with the Sunday Express also climbing 1.32% to 837,662.

Scotland on Sunday, which rose by a dramatic 18.15% in August, recorded a 6.07% drop to 54,631 for September, underlining its erratic recent form.

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