UK cinema ticket sales*

1960 501m 1970 199m 1974 143m 1980 102m 1990 89m 2000 143m *CAA figures

Cinema admissions have shown a general upward trend since 1982 when cinema admissions stood at 65 million.

Ben Keen, research director at media analysts Screen Digest, said the rise was directly related to the building of new cinemas.

"The fundamental reason is the expanding number of new cinemas. It has got people to go back to the cinema."

Multiplex cinemas have reinvigorated the cinema experience after years of falling investment, he added.

In the last decade alone, admissions have increased by 58%, to 139 million in 1999, according to the Cinema Advertising Association, which promotes and monitors advertising in UK cinemas.

Its research shows that multiplex cinemas account for 57% of all screens in the UK and 67% of admissions.

The 1970s were marked by a steady fall in audience figures from 199 million in 1970 to 102 million a decade later.

"The collapse of ticket sales in the 1970s was partly due to the decline in the whole cinema experience."

Britain's crumbling one-screen cinemas, many of which have either been destroyed or restored as listed buildings, have made way for the multi-screen venue.

Russell Crowe in Gladiator, one of the biggest films of 2000

In 1974, the biggest films of the year were Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part II, The Sting, The Great Gatsby, Towering Inferno, Chinatown and Murder of the Orient Express.

This year the most successful films have been Gladiator and Toy Story 2.

Mr Keen does not feel that the advent of movies on DVD, offering a much improved home viewing experience, will in any way halt the growth in cinema ticket sales.

"There is a strong correlation between people who buy DVDs and those who go to the movies. They tend to be people who are interested in film."