Lowest record sales on Official Album Chart in 17 years

Suffolk singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran released his first album in September

The Official Album Chart saw its lowest sales in nearly 17 years last week as Ed Sheeran returned to the top spot.

The singer's debut record, +, went back to number one for the first time since September with sales of 20,607.

That is the lowest total since September 1995 when the Levellers' Zeitgeist was top with 13,885 sales.

Coldplay's latest album Mylo Xyloto rose to number two with Adele's record-breaking 21 falling to number three with weekly sales dipping to 19,394.

Nearly half of Coldplay's total sales were from digital downloads.

Adele's second record has sold 3,855,537 copies in its 52 weeks on release in the UK with its top total standing at 257,731 on its 10th week on the chart.

January is traditionally a quieter time of year for album releases, and coupled with higher spending before Christmas, has seen fewer people buying records.

Sales should pick up again this month with the release of several high profile records, including Emeli Sandé's Our Version of Events.

Lana Del Rey's debut Born To Die sold 50,000 copies alone on its first day of release on Monday (30 January).

The Brits also take place on 21 February.

Sales have also been slow in the US, where for the first time five albums entered the Billboard top 10 with fewer than 20,000 copies sold last week.