British spending on radio advertising is growing at its fastest rates for three years and over four times faster than the equivalent spending on TV advertising. Advertisers splashed out over £165m on radio ads in the last three months of last year alone, an increase of nearly 13% on the same period in 2002, according to commercial radio body the Radio Advertising Bureau.

The strong end to the year gave radio advertising a year on year growth rate of 6.8%, compared with just 1.6% for television advertising. Last year advertisers spent a total of £601m on radio, compared with £563m in 2002.

The record figures have been boosted by companies including Procter & Gamble and Lever Faberge, which both doubled their spend on radio last year. Other advertisers including Specsavers and Easyjet increased their radio spend by 274% and 160% in the three months to December 2003.

"Lever Faberge have significantly increased spend on radio during 2003," says Simon Worthington, head of communications planning at Initiative Media. "Radio has proved an additional and powerful dimension to support brand objectives."

The RAB said radio is increasingly finding its way onto the media buying strategies of the larger advertising agencies, with the top 20 agencies increasing their spend at a faster rate than the radio creative agencies.

"Radio is leading the way out of the downturn as marketeers increasingly turn to radio, attracted by its clearly demonstrated effectiveness at building awareness and driving sales," claims the RAB client services director, Michael O'Brien.