Standard circulation director Chris Spalding said the 5 September switch was designed "to make the paper as user-friendly as possible."

"When you travel on a train it's difficult to hold together a non-stitched paper, so we decided to make the full run stitched," he added.

Standard Lite, the free lunchtime edition of the paper, was previously the only edition to be stitched. Spalding said that stitching the Lite edition had been a trial for the full run of around 450,000.

He added that the costs were "marginal" as stitching equipment is already installed on the KBA Flexocourier presses at Harmsworth Quays. Associated's morning freesheet Metro, printed at Kent Messenger Group, is also stitched.

The move follows News International's massive order with Tolerans for stitching kit on its new presses.