The NUJ has expressed concern that the decision to stop the delivery of small-circulation newspapers on Royal Mail flights to Scotland is undermining access to a diverse media.

The Post Office is the sole organisation allowed late-night landings at Edinburgh airport and, until December 2003, spare capacity on Royal Mail planes was allocated to small circulation newspapers.

This facility enabled subsequent distribution by road to all Scottish warehouses.

But in December the Minor Titles Consortium parcels were denied access to the plane, the Christmas mail rush being cited as the reason for the exclusion.

However, the MTC titles have not been reinstated and the alternative of distribution by road proved so expensive that some publishers were unable to continue distribution.

Among those falling victim to the decision were the Morning Star and Europe's largest Urdu-language newspaper, the Daily Jang.

The NUJ has rejected the contention that market forces should be the sole criteria for decisions on newspaper distribution.

Jeremy Dear said: "This is denying Scottish readers the right to access a whole variety of titles in the name of commercialism.

"Anything that reduces the range of titles available to the public undermines a free media and the public's right to access a range of opinions and we urge the Government to intervene".