Bend It Like Beckham was one of the Lottery-backed hits

Home-grown movies such as Bend It Like Beckham, Gosford Park and The Magdalene Sisters have been the biggest hits.

More than 31 million tickets were bought in the last two years to see 20 films which received �13.7m from the Lottery, the UK Film Council has said.

Council chief John Woodward said the films "would not have been made" without Lottery money and tax breaks.

LOTTERY WINNERS Gosford Park (above). Lottery funds: �2m. Box office takings: �49.3m Bend It Like Beckham. Lottery: �945,000. Box office: �39.7m The Importance of Being Earnest. Lottery: �1.3m. Box office: �10.7m Source: UK Film Council

"Our film talent would have had less opportunity to develop their skills, and millions of people in the UK and across the world would have lost the opportunity to enjoy exciting films," he said.

But while the success was welcome, there was "still a long way to go", he warned.

Three films broke the �10m box office barrier in the last two years - Gosford Park, Bend It Like Beckham and The Importance of Being Earnest.

The Magdalene Sisters - which won the prestigious Golden Lion award for best film at the 2002 Venice Film Festival - earned �9.5m.

Another eight films took more than �1m - but five made less at the box office than they were given by the Lottery.

Revengers Tragedy, which starred Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard, was given a grant of �510,000 - but took �20,000 in ticket receipts.

LOTTERY LOSERS Revengers Tragedy. Lottery: �510,000. Box office: �20,000 AKA. Lottery: �101,250. Box office: �10,000 Once Upon a Time in the Midlands. Lottery: �750,000. Box office: �530,000 Source: UK Film Council

Drama AKA, set in the late 1970s, and Once Upon A Time in the Midlands, with Robert Carlyle and Ricky Tomlinson, have also made a loss.

But films make most money from video and DVD releases and TV broadcasts, the council said, which takes up to eight years to come through.

Most new British films have some kind of Lottery investment, they said - and the grants have also gone towards new ways of distributing films.

Thriller This is Not a Love Song, written by Full Monty writer Simon Beaufoy, was given the world's first "e-premi�re" last month.