UK cinemas sold more than 53.6m tickets during 2008 – the highest figure since 1969.

According to the latest annual report from the Film Distributors' Association (FDA), movies such as Mamma Mia! and The Dark Knight helped British cinemas attract more than 50m visits for the first time in 40 years.

A spokesperson for the FDA said the lousy summer weather helped boost figures, but that the figures also reflect the robustness of the sector.

"A £5 cinema ticket is good value at times when people are looking to cut back on discretionary spend," he added.

The news follows figures published by the UK Film Council earlier this year, which showed that box office takings for the UK and the Republic of Ireland totalled £949.5m, an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year and the highest since records began in 1989.