Despite splitting up more than 30 years ago, The Beatles are still helping to boost sales of British bands abroad.

There was a surge in the number of British albums being sold in Europe last year, according to new figures, with stars like James Blunt, Katie Melua, Robbie Williams and Coldplay leading the way.

The statistics from the BPI, the UK recorded music industry association, show the Fab Four also became one of last year's top exports thanks to Love, a remix album of their hits.

In 2006, UK acts sold 27 million albums in Germany and France, the world's fourth and fifth largest music markets.

British talent accounted for one in five artist album sales in Germany and one in ten in France, the highest figures in four years.

Albums by stars like Blunt, Melua, Williams and Coldplay helped UK exports secure one fifth of the German music market in 2006, and increase the French market share to 10.7 per cent in 2006 from 10.2 per cent the previous year.

Scottish star Paolo Nutini, Devon trio Muse and rockers Placebo were also big sellers in France, where law dictates that 40 per cent of tracks on national radio must be in the French language, while Depeche Mode and Yusuf Islam, formerly Cat Stevens, were popular in Germany.

Love, which has been dubbed the first "new" Beatles album in 26 years, was the fourth-biggest UK seller in both Germany and France.

The album contains Beatles tracks remixed by legendary music producer Sir George Martin for the soundtrack from the Las Vegas stage show with Cirque du Soleil.

Figures have previously shown albums by UK artists account for more than half of all albums sold in the UK and one in 12 sold in the US.

BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said: "Music is one of the UK's great cultural and economic exports.

"The fact that UK labels are gaining an increasing share of these major international markets demonstrates the diversity and quality of new British artists."

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