Cinema admissions in the UK have bucked the European trend by showing an increase in 2002.

Early figures for the year show a rise of 10% in ticket sales on 2001, according to Screen Daily.

France, Germany and Italy have all experienced a decline in admissions over the year.

Sales in the UK have rocketed from 156 million in 2001 to 176 million last year.

Following an impressive start to the year, industry experts in the UK had set a target of 174 million admissions by Christmas.

Fans rushed to see the eagerly awaited Star Wars

The large number of eagerly awaited blockbusters released during the year is credited with the dramatic rise.

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Minority Report and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers were some of the biggest draws of the year.

Live action movie Spider-Man helped cinemas record the highest figures for June since 1972.

This was despite predictions of a fall-off because of the World Cup tournament.

Total gross sales for UK of $1.2bn (�750m) make it the largest market, with Germany second at $977m (�611m).

France has seen a fall of 0.4%, according to Screen Daily, while Italy dropped 2%.

Multiplexes

Spain also suffered a poor year as admissions dropped by 20 million.

The Netherlands has managed to post encouraging figures, with a rise of 5% to 24 million admissions.

And the UK cinema industry has enjoyed a renaissance since its lowest point in the 1980s, when admissions sank to 54 million for 1984.

At that time, the advent of the affordable home video and the screening of more movies on television were blamed for closures and economic difficulties.

But the development of easily accessible out-of-town multiplexes, as well as better marketing of city centre cinemas have led to a consistent revival.