James Corden on stage

Long-running shows such as Les Miserables and new hits including One Man, Two Guvnors have helped push London West End theatre takings up for the eighth year running.

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The Society of London Theatre (SOLT) said ticket sales in 2011 reached £528 million.

The figure, which includes takings at 52 major theatres in and around central London, was up 3.1 per cent from the year before.

Mark Rubinstein, president of the SOLT, said: “We are extremely proud that our theatres have yet again gone on to achieve another record-breaking year of sales, with many shows announcing record-breaking runs of their own.

“Despite the prevailing rigours of the economic climate, theatre-goers have acted with their feet and wallets and shown just how much they value a trip to one of our world-class shows.

“We can confirm buoyant box office advances for 2012, a year in which we look forward to welcoming millions more national and international visitors through our theatre doors.”

The box office figures show attendances were down slightly on the previous year to just short of 14 million, which SOLT attributed to big new productions opening, which required theatres to close their doors while they were set up.