Has The Sun dropped its topless Page 3 girls?

Campaigners against The Sun's Page Three feature could have scored a victory over the tabloid. Photo / Getty Images

More than 44 years of topless pictures of women in The Sun could be coming to an end.

Campaigners from No More Page Three, which has lobbied the UK tabloid to remove the feature, are tentatively celebrating, following reports that executives at the paper have decided to quietly remove it.

Sources at the newspaper told The Guardian that the feature has already been quietly dropped, potentially marking the end of a tradition which has been branded a sexist anachronism by campaigners.

"It's a historic moment, but the devil will be in the detail, and there's still a lot to be done," No More Page Three campaigner Angela Towers said. "It's an indication that people power is causing change on some level."

A spokesman and other executives at the tabloid refused to return calls from the Guardian seeking comment. As news of the axe potentially falling on Page Three spread, Dylan Sharpe, the head of PR at The Sun, failed to shed light on the situation, and tweeted: "Page 3 will be in @TheSunNewspaper tomorrow in the same place it's always been - between page 2 and page 4."

Neither yesterday's The Sun on Sunday nor today's The Sun featured topless glamour models, but instead featured famous women in their underwear.

Topless Page 3 models were introduced by The Sun in 1970, less than a year after Rupert Murdoch bought the title.

Murdoch's own view of Page 3 has been hard to gauge in recent months. He posted several tweets last year that suggested he thought the campaigners had a point:

Brit feminists bang on forever about page 3. I bet never buy paper
I think old fashioned but readers seem to disagree.

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) September 10, 2014

Page 3 again. Aren't beautiful young women more attractive in at least some fashionable clothes? Your opinions please.

— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) September 10, 2014

Ms Towers went on to say that while The Sun has never contacted the group directly, she believes the newspaper's actions reflect campaigners' successes, as it has featured topless women less frequently in recent months.

"The Sun likes to pretend we don't exist, but what they do in regards to Page Three is often with us in mind to try to avoid us getting publicity," she claimed.

"All the news coverage we receive increases signatures. And every time [Rupert] Murdoch [owner of The Sun] tweets about us, we get more signatures. As soon as they find out about us they come and sign straight away," she said.

Asked what may have caused the topless models on Page Three to be dropped, she said: "I think people are fed up. Everything that we've done as a campaign, every video and blog, has been created by our supporters. We're just here with a platform, and it's a community that's been built from people's frustration."

If reports are confirmed, No More Page Three now continue to campaign to see end sexism in the media, Ms Towers pledged.

And while The Sun has not confirmed the change, No More Page Three supporters, including Labour MP Stella Creasy, have tweeted their congratulations.

*sounds klaxon* hey! anyone seen Page 3 recently @NoMorePage3? me neither.....bring on the 21st Century..http://t.co/RszW65Ncx3 #goldenarmy

— stellacreasy (@stellacreasy) January 19, 2015

- The Independent