Will News International launch a Sunday edition of The Sun now that it has taken the shock decision to axe the irretrievably tarnished News of the World title?

That is the tantalising question pre-occupying the media industry  today following News International's conclusion that the brand was too badly tainted to allow it to continue within the News International stable which also  include The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times - overlorded by Rebekah Brooks.

The BBC's  business editor Robert Peston said before the news broke that some of the companies that had been pulling their advertising from the News of the World were shifting it to its sister daily paper, The Sun.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke told the BBC that "all they're going to do is relaunch it".

There have been rumours that a Sunday edition of the Sun will launched, although News International has declined to comment.

There already is a North-east England newspaper - the Sunday Sun - published weekly in Newcastle.

The BBC reveals ..."the web addresses "TheSunOnSunday.co.uk" and "thesunonsunday.com" were registered two days ago, although it is not known by whom."

The BBC said that James Murdoch's statement referred to "colleagues who will leave the company", which suggested it will not simply relaunch under a different name.

News International has said that 200 people are employed by the News of the World, but has not said how many of them will be made redundant.

The paper has 21 staff in Scotland  where it publishes as the Scottish News of the World.

The website,allmediascotland, today reported: "It is understood every effort will be made by the company to find work for its 21 editorial staff in Scotland within its ranks, but that nevertheless they are at risk of redundancy.

"It is also understood that David Dinsmore, general manager Scotland for News International, will be addressing staff tomorrow morning (Friday)."

Dinsmore was until his recent promotion the editor of the Scottish Sun -  Scotland's top-selling daily newspaper and also owned by News International.

Peter Preston, former editor of The Guardian, claimed that  it would not be as simple as just relaunching.

"If you just do a seventh day version of what you're doing the rest of the week, it doesn't do as well - it's not what the public want," he told the BBC, stressing that the readership profile of the Sun and the News of the World are not the same.

The News of the World was the best-selling English-language newspaper.

Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said its closure would leave a big hole in the market.

"It is a huge market - even though some people said they would boycott the paper this week and all those advertisers said they would pull out.

"There are something like 10 million readers who will be without what was their favourite paper and there will be a lot of big companies who had relied on the paper to advertise their goods."

The publicist Max Clifford, one of the alleged victims of phone hacking, said it would make commercial sense for News International to relaunch quickly "to get their public and their advertisers back".

"It had become obvious that the cancer that was emerging because of the things that were coming out was far too serious, far too deep, to save the paper."

Steve Hewlett, presenter of BBC Radio 4's The Media Show, said people he had spoken to at News International were furious that the News of the World would be closing but that Rebekah Brooks would continue to be the company's chief executive.

Rebekah Brooks was editor of the News of the World at the time when it is alleged that Milly Dowler's phone was hacked.

"Will this draw a line under the scandal? I'm not sure while she is in charge,"  Hewlett is quoted as saying.