The Sunday Herald and Scotsman newspapers have each seen their Scottish sales figures dip below the psychological barriers of 30,000 and 40,000 respectively.

Says the Audit Bureau of Circulation, sales in Scotland of the Sunday Herald were an average 29,429 last month, while the sales-in-Scotland average for The Scotsman were an average 39,739.

For the latter, there was the consolation of 725 sales outside Scotland, to bring the average up to 40,524.

For the Sunday Herald, 29,429 represents a year-on-year decline of 30 per cent, the average in April last year having been 42,204.

For The Scotsman, this time last year the average sale in Scotland was 43,962, meaning a year-on-year decline since then of 9.6 per cent.

The Sunday Herald's sister title, The Herald, also fell through an important barrier, dropping below 50,000 - from 54,704 to 49,574; a drop of 9.3 per cent.

The Sunday Herald, at the start of the year, became a single section, news magazine, a few weeks later responding to reader feedback by introducing a sports supplement.

Elsewhere, the biggest-selling daily newspaper, The Scottish Sun, saw its sales-in-Scotland average for last month, of 322,335, represent a 6.5 per cent fall on 344,753 of 12 months ago. And its rival, the Daily Record, saw its average for last month, of 286,644, represent a 5.8 per cent fall on 304,206 from April last year.

The biggest-selling newspaper is the Sunday Mail, with an average of 336,166, down nine per cent on this time last year, when its average sale stood at 369,624.