Postal regulator Postcomm is to keep the first class system, Presstream 1, within price controls for a further four years. It follows the PPA's claim that it had "damning new evidence" to rubbish Postcomm's justification for ending the controls.

"This is clearly very good news for time sensitive magazines such as weekly titles that rely on Presstream 1 to reach the market," said PPA chief executive Ian Locks. "It is gratifying that Postcomm has listened to PPA's representations to this extent."

But Locks added that he was concerned that Postcomm would remove all price and service controls from Presstream 2. The PPA argues that competition to the entire Presstream service was not developed sufficiently to justify removal of price controls.

The association claimed that the evidence it presented "proved" that there was a lack of competition to Royal Mail to provide a universal service due to the limited geographical reach of alternative operators.