On the rack: the National Federation of Retail Newsagents is bemoaning the decision to let the 1994 newspaper code of practice lapse in October

Newspaper publishers and distributors will be freed from regulations forcing them to supply newsagents who order their stock, Lord Mandelson, business secretary, ruled on Monday.

The decision to let the 1994 newspaper code of practice lapse in October was greeted with dismay by small newsagents, who fear the change would leave them disadvantaged compared with large publishers and wholesalers.