More money was spent on vinyl than downloaded albums for the first time last week.

While vinyl sales made £2.4 million, downloads took in £2.1 million for the record industry, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).

Downloads, which are still more popular than vinyl, have been hit as music fans switch to streaming services.

Kate Bush is currently top of the vinyl charts with Before The Dawn.

Kate Bush
Kate Bush (Trevor Leighton/PA Images)

ERA chief Kim Bayley said: “This is yet further evidence of the ability of music fans to surprise us all.

“It’s not so long ago that the digital download was meant to be the future. Few would have predicted that an album format first invented in 1948 and based on stamping a groove into a piece of plastic would now be outselling it in 2016.”

According to the figures, 120,000 vinyl albums and 295,000 digital albums were sold last week.

Vinyl – which could also be proving popular as a Christmas gift – is more expensive.