The title becomes the most-read Saturday paper for the first time, according to the NRS.

The latest figures from the National Readership Survey suggest that the Daily Mail outperformed the market year on year, with a readership of almost 4M.

The title beats the mid-popular market by 9% and the broadsheets by 2%, according to the NRS statistics, between July and December 2016.

The Mail on Sunday remains the UK's most-read Sunday newspaper, with 3.25M readers.

Chief marketing officer at Mail Newspapers, Roland Agambar, said: “This performance, alongside the continued increase in Mail Newspapers’ share of retail sales, further demonstrates the strength and resilience of our brands and our commitment to driving genuine, retail sales of our newspapers. Our titles are able to attract loyal readers thanks to ongoing investment in quality journalism and leading magazines and supplements as well as our best-in-class loyalty and promotional programmes.”