LAST weekend's CLA Game Fair was the biggest in the event's history, organisers have said.

More than 138,000 tickets were sold for the three-day extravaganza, pictured right, at the 500-acre Broadlands estate in Romsey.

It beat the previous record in 2004 of 137,500 people in attendance when the event was held at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.

Fair director David Hough said: "We are very pleased with the whole event. The weather was good and people enjoyed it so it's great we beat our all-time record."

Mr Hough said that although it is too early to get the exact figures, organisers expect the contribution to the local economy in and around Romsey to be equally successful.

"Last year the show generated more than £10.3m for the local area, and we are confident it did more than that this year," he said.

The Game Fair is the largest celebration of the countryside in the world and next year's event will be held in Harewood House, near Leeds in Yorkshire.

The fair, now in its 48th year, rotates between venues every four years and is expected to return to Broadlands in 2010.