Only eight paid-for weeklies across the UK recorded circulation increases last year, the latest figures reveal.

The most recent ABCs showed just five English weekly titles and three in Scotland posted sales increases with none in Northern Ireland or Wales seeing a rise in sales.

The best-performing paid-for weekly in England was Newsquest-owned Northwich, Winsford & Middlewich Guardian which recorded a sales increase of 19.1pc with a cover price of £1.

Its increase follows a relaunch of the paper during 2013 with circulation rising from 10,031 to 11,942 in the second half of the year.

Local World’s Isle of Thanet Gazette, with a cover price of 80p, also fared particularly well after increasing its weekly sales by 5.8pc from 10,114 to 10,698, while sales of the daily-to-weekly Scunthorpe Telegraph were up 0.7pc.

Other paid-for English weeklies which increased circulation included the Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News which saw a 1.4pc rise in sales with a cover price of 50p, while the Prestwich and Whitefield Guide also increased its circulation by 0.9pc.

In Scotland, the Annandale Herald and Moffat News increased its circulation by 31.4pc to stand at 3,560, making it the best performing paid-for title in the UK.

And there were smaller increases for the Irvine Times, up 3.1pc and the Border Telegraph, which saw sales rise by 2pc.

The worst-performing paid-for weeklies included the Brentwood Gazette which saw a drop of 18.7pc.  The Boston Target saw a 16.7pc decrease in sales but this reflects its move to being fully paid-for from having previously been part-free.

The Wiltshire Times also saw a circulation decrease of 15.5pc with a cover price of £1.

The majority of free weekly newspapers also a saw a dip in circulation figures with the Bury Journal dropping by 16.5pc and the Crewe and Nantwich Guardian dropping by 15.9pc.

But there was good news for the Lisburn Echo in Northern Ireland which increased its circulation by 3.1pc and the News Post Leader which recorded a 0.1pc increase.

The current set of ABCs covers titles whose sales are audited six-monthly and those that are audited once a year.

The full list of weekly ABCs can be seen here.