The bitter dispute over Number 10's actions ahead of the royal funeral has been revived with claims that "killer" evidence exists to show that Tony Blair wanted to muscle-in on the lying-in-state.

As the row shows no sign of going away, senior Labour figures have called for Alastair Campbell to be canned.

Writing in the Spectator, Peter Oborne, who first broke the story, disclosed that a Downing Street complaint to the Press Complaints Commission was ditched after "technicolour and dramatic" revelations contained in a memorandum drawn up by Black Rod.

"One person aware of the contents of this killer memo describes it as 'dynamite'," he writes in the latest edition of the magazine.

"Meanwhile, that killer memo lurks in a safe somewhere. Downing Street must be praying that it never sees the light of day."

With Downing Street fixers in full retreat, an official spokesman confirmed for the first time that the option of the prime minister walking to Westminster Hall was considered.

The Telegraph believes the account contradicts Campbell's earlier dismissal of allegations that the prime minister's office had the idea "to get Tony and Cherie walking along glad-handling the crowd and looking sombre".

The newspaper also reveals that the parliamentary official at the heart of the row, Black Rod, had been "bombarded with up to 15 telephone calls" from Number 10 officials in the five days leading up to the funeral.

The Mirror is unimpressed with the "excruciating" furore.

"Nuclear fear in Kashmir, mayhem in Israel, famine in Africa... rotting railways, crumbling hospitals, decaying schools...," lists the newspaper. "Stop the cobblers and get back to work."