The News of the World was not the only Sunday newspaper to see a dramatic fall -- The People dropped by 4% to 849,123 copies, and the Independent on Sunday was down by 4.5% to 233,193 copies.

However, the circulation of the IoS rose 11.3% compared with this time last year. It relaunched as a tabloid in October 2005.

Its sister daily newspaper The Independent's circulation slid from 266,075 in February to 255,849 in March, a decline of 3.8%.

It was the worst performer among the quality national newspapers, in a month that had relatively steady circulation levels. Only the Financial Times reported a rise, increasing circulation by 1.2% to 445,986 copies.

Overall, 5% fewer newspapers were sold on an average Sunday in March compared with the same time last year.