[Smithy]

album sales reached their lowest ebb of the 21st Century. A total of 1,446,218 albums were sold - less than any other seven-day period since 2000.

Adele sold 22,235 copies of 21 - the lowest weekly tally of its chart career.

Madonna fared even worse. A fortnight after it reached number one, a meagre 7,194 copies of her album MDNA were bought.

It is the first of Madonna's studio albums not to be in the Top 10 on its third week on the chart since 1984, when Like A Virgin spent its opening weeks in the low 60s.

Poor sales were partly due to the Easter holiday, said trade publication Music Week.

The situation is likely to improve this weekend, as music fans are enticed into shops by the limited edition releases available for Record Store Day.