Jan. 22: The Sun returned today with bare breasts on Page 3, punning cheekily on the front page, 'We've had a mammary lapse.'

Today's paper shows a topless model winking and baring her breasts.

Under the headline 'Clarifications and Corrections', the paper states: 'Further to recent reports in all other media outlets, we would like to clarify that this is Page 3 and this is a picture of Nicole, 22, from Bournemouth.'

'We would like to apologise on behalf of the print and broadcast journalists who have spent the last two days talking and writing about us,' adds The Sun.

The return to type follows nearly a week of worldwide speculation that after 44 years, The Sun had decided to drop topless pictures from Page 3.

There must be a reason why no topless pictures appeared in The Sun between last Friday and today. A possible explanation is there is an internal war going on, with the paper's owner, Rupert Murdoch inclined to drop Page 3. But he could be persuaded that the last few days have shown circulation suffers when bare breasts are missing.

The head of PR at the Sun, Dylan Sharpe, tweeted earlier in the evening yesterday: 'I said that it was speculation and not to trust reports by people unconnected to The Sun. A lot of people are about to look very silly ... '

The return of Page 3 will infuriate women's groups who had thought the battle had been won. 'So it seems the fight might be back on,' tweeted Lucy-Anne Holmes, the founder of the No More Page 3 campaign.

The campaign, which started in 2012, attracted 217,000 signatures of people who want Page 3 to be scrapped.

The Labour MP, Stella Creasy, also offered her take: 'So Sun going back to doing #page3? bit like drunken letchy uncle at a wedding who doesn't get the message. Makes everyone uncomfortable.'

Another supporter of the campaign, Julia Churchill, added: 'After #NoMorePage3 it felt like we were taking a good deep breath after being held under water, and now, a punch in the face.'

After reports the paper had decided to quietly drop the feature, education secretary Nicky Morgan and Liberal Democrat women's and equalities minister Jo Swinson were among those to express their delight at the apparent change.

But Page 3 was supported by a number of former models who said girls were being deprived of a way to earn decent money and that it did no harm to girls who posed for photographs. Commentators are confident, though, that the days of Page 3 are ultimately numbered, not least because of opposition from Murdoch, who has declared that he finds the pictures old-fashioned and solicited the views of his followers on social media about the daily feature.

Sources told the The Guardian, which broke the original story, that The Sun had planned for the demise of Page 3 to pass under the radar. When The Guardian revealed plans to scrap it on Monday, a senior editor quipped privately: 'If I were the boss, I'd put in a topless pic just to spite everybody.'

With a circulation of 2.2 million, The Sun's voice will be important during the general election.