News of the World last edition 'sells 4.5m - highest sales for 13 years'

The last issue of the News of the World is thought to have shifted all 4.5 million copies printed, as the public set aside their anger over phone hacking and rushed to pick up the final hurrah of the 168-year-old paper.

According to unofficial figures reported by The Guardian, yesterday saw the highest sales of the Sunday tabloid since 1998.

The paper, which was shut down after being implicated in the phone hacking scandal, hit newsstands with its front page bearing the headline "Thank You & Goodbye", backed up by an emotional editorial signing off after more than 150 years in print.

The final circulation represented a 70% increase on the paper's usual sales of around 2.66m copies. Official figures will be released later today or early tomorrow.

The News of the World is understood to have sold out the entire run of copies put out yesterday, despite fears that the public would shun the paper at the heart of shocking phone hacking revelations. There were also unconfirmed reports that copies of the paper were being sold on for as much as £10, as people snapped up a potential future collector's item.

News International, the paper's parent company, pledged to give all proceeds from the final issue to three good causes - Barnado's, the Forces Children's Trust and military projects at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.

According to calculations factoring in the wholesale costs of each copy sold, the charities could be in-line to receive around £3.3m from the sales.

All advertising in the final News of the World was also given to charity advertisers, many of whom put aside their unease over allegations against the paper to appear for free.