An award-winning trainee journalist put the editor of The Sun on the spot about the future of ‘Page Three’ during an NCTJ event.

Last month the Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid appeared to have axed the controversial pictures of topless models from the paper after 44 years.

However after a break of a few days they were back, with the paper putting their absense down to a “mammary lapse.”

Sun editor David Dinsmore was quizzed pver the issue as he took part in a ‘Meet the Editors’ session at the end of the NCTJ Student Council meeting, which took place at Sun parent company News UK’s London HQ on Friday.

Rachael Venables, a former Sheffield University journalism student now working for radio station Heart in East Anglia, said she “could not leave the building” without asking David for his views on the future of Page Three.

David, who is widely believed to want to get rid of the feature, replied: “Just keep reading the paper.”

Rachael then asked whether it was about “the right of women to take their clothes off” or whether it was “just about selling newspapers.”

David replied: “It was always there to sell papers, in the same way that sport is there to sell papers.”

Earlier Rachael had been awarded the Oxford University Press media law award after scoring 99pc in her media law exam.

She is pictured below receiving the award from ITV’s Catherine Houlihan.