The '5pm Conference Edition' went on sale to delegates and regular readers in and around the city's International Convention Centre on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of conference week.

The special edition was packed with news and speeches from conference and fringe meetings and enabled the paper to be bang up to date with the latest headlines from Tory delegates.

The late edition enabled the Trinity Mirror-owned Mail to give the fullest possible report of Tory leader David Cameron’s keynote speech on Wednesday afternoon and also his emergency conference intervention to speak about the financial crisis.

The Mail reporting team was led by Political Editor Jonathan Walker, who ensured that the paper had a cracking front page lead for each of the three days of the conference special.

The edition was pulled together each day by deputy editor Carole Cole and assistant editor Alf Bennett.

Ms Cole said: "The Tory Conference was a great opportunity for the city - and the Mail - to put themselves in the spotlight. It was a huge success on both fronts."

Around 15,000 delegates, activists, journalists and volunteers were at the ICC for the four-day event in the city whose leaders relished the decision by Tory Party hierachy to forsake their usual jaunt to the seaside for the delights of Brum.