The BFI today published figures that show audiences have embraced independent British films more than ever and production spend in the UK was over £1.2bn for the first time.

Last year saw audiences flocking to see films made in the UK. Independent British films released in 2011 gathered a 13.5% market share of the UK box office, the highest ever recorded.

London-shot features such as multi Oscar®-winner The King's Speech and Oscar® nominated Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy were some of the box office hits that helped achieve the record-breaking figures.

The increased audience appetite for independently made British films came within what was a strong year for UK cinemas generally. With admissions up 1.4% on 2010,  the gross value of box office for the year reached £1.04bn, and was the first time that UK takings, excluding Republic of Ireland, have broken through the £1bn barrier.

Production spend on feature films in the UK was over £1.2bn in 2012, of which spend from  international features grew to just over £1bn, an increase of 2.8% from 2010's £979.7m.

Productions which started shooting in the UK in 2011 include the 23rd Bond film Skyfall; Cloud Atlas, the international ensemble drama starring Tom Hanks; Danny Boyle's thriller Trance, starring James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson and Vincent Cassel; Ridley Scott's epic sci-fi adventure Prometheus starring Michael Fassbender; period drama Hyde Park on the Hudson directed by Roger Michell starring Bill Murray, Laura Linney and Olivia Williams; Gambit, a comedy starring Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz; Marc Forster's geo-political thriller World War Z starring Brad Pitt; and Bollywood film Housefull 2 starring Amitabh Bachchan.

International productions shooting in the UK in 2011 helped to grow the national film infrastructure and the economy as a whole as well as creating and supporting a large number of jobs.. Adrian Wootton, CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission said: "The variety of films choosing to shoot in the UK last year is indicative of the huge range of productions the UK can cater for; from period dramas to sci-fi and a list which includes movies from independents, studios and Bollywood. It is also very positive that a number of films are using the UK as a gateway to shoot in other parts of Europe, in 2010 we saw this with the likes of Scorsese's Hugo and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows while last year a number of films followed suit including World War Z, Wrath of the Titans, Cloud Atlas and 47 Ronin."

The figures also revealed that the number of UK co-productions with other countries increased by one third to 40 titles.

More details and the full figures can be found on the BFI website.