Sales of Private Eye rose to an 18-year-high as the fortnightly satirical title maintained its place as the top-selling UK current affairs magazine in the second half of 2009.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, its average sale in the period was 210,218, up 3.4 per cent year on year.

Commenting on the rise in sales editor Ian Hislop said: "It seems the Eye's circulation figures are a bit like John Terry's shorts. In the past they may have been down, but now they are firmly up again."