London, July 22 (IANS) British characters Harry Potter and Mr. Bean gave UK cinema the necessary fillip last year, with box office takings from British films topping £1.65 billion ($3.3bn) worldwide, an increase of more than 50 percent in 2006.

Figures from the UK Film Council show that 700 million tickets were sold for UK films last year across the globe. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", the fifth film in the series based on JK Rowling's books, was the top UK film internationally and "Mr. Bean's Holiday", the second film based on Rowan Atkinson's TV series, came second.

The UK Film Council said the last decade has also seen a 50 percent increase in UK box office takings. The most successful year for British cinema was 2005, thanks to "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit".

In 2007, some 60 percent of people in UK said they went to the pictures at leas