The UK video retail market grew by 29.7% during 2003, with high street sales up to 199 million units, according to new figures from the British Video Association.

The market growth - which excludes mail order - was helped by blockbusters such as the best-selling title of the year, Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers, which sold 3.8m units, closely followed by Harry Potter And The Chamber of Secrets, which sold 3.3m.

The VHS retail market fell by 19% to 60m units, but this was more than offset by another year of strong growth in DVD, up 75% to 139m units.

December was marked by the release of Buena Vista's Pirates of the Caribbean The Curse Of The Black Pearl which sold a staggering 2.4m copies in just four weeks making it the biggest selling Christmas video ever.

In contrast, the biggest selling album of the month was Dido's White Flag which sold just over one million copies.