Sales of the Mirror and Express newspapers soared by close to a third on the day after the Queen’s death as Britons rushed to snap up the historic editions.

Despite soaring sales, the company revealed that it took a financial hit from the Queen’s death as many advertisers suspended national advertising campaigns during the mourning period.

Revenue dropped 8.1% in September as advertising was reined in, the papers’ owner Reach said.

“I am particularly proud of our teams who worked so tirelessly over recent weeks to produce such comprehensive, respectful and sensitive coverage of the Queen’s passing, a truly once-in-a-generation event,” said chief executive Jim Mullen.

The papers they produced were snapped up rapidly by punters across the UK.

The Express and The Mirror saw their aggregate sales volumes rise by around 30% on the day after the Queen died and the day after her funeral.

But sales were not up massively across the period. Overall, September circulation rose by just 4.3% the company said.

The benefit was more than offset by the drop in print advertising, down 17% in July and August and down more than 32% in September.

“We have made further good strategic progress as we continue to deliver quality content to a growing and increasingly engaged digital audience,” Mr Mullen said.

“Actions on costs are helping to mitigate inflationary pressures and while macro uncertainty persists, improved revenue trends during the third quarter are a positive.

“The strength of our balance sheet underpins ongoing investment in the strategy as we continue to transition to an increasing mix of higher quality digital earnings.”

Total revenue was down 1.9% during the quarter compared to the year before, led by print revenue, down 2.9% and lifted slightly by digital revenue, up 1.1%.

Shares in the business dropped 2.6% following the news.