"Old records never die", sang Ian Hunter back in 1981, but by the time Pearl Jam released "Spin the Black Circle" in 1994, vinyl records looked to be on the way out.

Perhaps Ian was right though - more than thirty years later vinyl sales are skyrocketing.

According to industry reports more than a million vinyl albums were sold this year - the first time the figure has been achieved since 1996 - and Medway traders say business is booming again.

33-year-old Manny Esguerra-Rossiter has worked in the industry for 15 years, and run Manny's Music in Chatham for the last two years with partner Christine Gross.

"It's always been steadily successful, but it's never been as crazy as it is now," he said. "Now vinyl's outselling CDs."

"There's always been the collectable element to vinyl, but now there's a kitsch value as well. It's fashionable again."

Phil Jessop, who's run Medway Record Centre in Gillingham for 19 years, said trade was

"definitely on the up," adding: "A million sold throughout the country is outstanding."

"The younger generation are getting record players because they've heard what vinyl sounds like. When you talk to them they say they've just been out and bought a deck, so I suppose (the rise in sales) is going to be fairly long term."

He said music fans were seeking the quality and depth of sound offered by vinyl that CDs and internet downloads couldn't replicate, adding: "People want to hear what a record sounded like when it was first released."

Graham Sage recently retired after running Recollect Records in Strood for 27 years, but still organises record fairs.

"There's a lot of interest among kids," he said. "They've been brought up on CDs but now they're discovering vinyl.

"A lot of artists like Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones are appealing to younger people and they want the albums on vinyl."

Mr Sage's record fairs are regularly attended by 30-35 dealers, and draw large numbers of collectors from far and wide.

"We've got a lot of foreigners coming as well," he added. "Japanese and Polish all coming to buy English records. It's good.

"I like to see people walking around with records under their arms."