A RECORD shop owner credits the rising popularity of vinyl on music fans falling "back in love with real music".

Greg Duggins, the owner of Kaleidoscope Records on Westfield Street, says the jumping sales in 12-inch discs is its highest in 25 years due to music fans and a younger clientele discovering or rediscovering the unique sound of vinyl.

More than 3.2 million LPs were sold last year, seeing a rise of 53 per cent on 2015 and the highest annual total since 1991.

The 61-year-old, who has owned the shop for more than 30 years, said: “I am really happy over recent years that I have seen a difference in people wanting to buy records again.

“I have seen a younger clientele coming in and discovering the beauty of records and people who gave away their records falling back in love with real music again.

“One guy sold me his records a few years back and recently came in to buy them all back. That’s how times have changed.

“It’s been on the up for around two years but it’s been really taking off as people are again wanting to stay in and listen to the quality sound of vinyl.

“Nowadays people want to listen to music again so I feel like they either want it on a record or if they want it fast they stream it, but I don’t know much about that myself.”

Streaming services have also rocketed 500 per cent since 2013 with 45 billion audio streams in 2016 alone through digital services.

But while streaming and vinyl saw marked increases, sales of CDs were down by more than 10 per cent.

Greg added: “Many people buy records for the designs as well, I know many people who just buy them and never open them, they just display them, with others enjoying reading the sleeves.

“You don’t get that with a download and it wasn’t the same with a CD, which were never liked anyway.”