The News Shopper’s call to lift an injunction preventing it from printing details about a health scare has received massive support from its readers.

More than 80 per cent of readers who called the paper’s special phone line agreed it should be allowed to print details of the scare which has seen 509 patients recalled for HIV tests.

The hospital concerned obtained a court order banning the News Shopper from publishing anything that could identify the health worker involved – including which hospital is involved or which area it is in.

However instead of ignoring the story, the paper’s editor ran a “legalled” version on the front page of each of the 12 editions – covering the entire circulation area from south east London to north Kent – which complied with the terms of the order.

Welcoming the support from readers, group editor Andrew Parkes said: “It is great to receive such backing for what we see as a vitally important fight.

“Our readers have the right to be told what is happening and with the help of many of our MPs, we are hoping to have this injunction lifted as soon as possible.

“We have no intention of naming the person whose illness has sparked this scare but we will not hold back in our efforts to report the truth.”

To read our original story on the injunction, click here.