Satirical magazine Private Eye recorded its highest circulation for more than 25 years as it celebrated its 50th anniversary in the second half of 2011, selling an average of nearly 230,000 copies a fortnight during an exceptionally busy period for news.

Private Eye remains the biggest-selling UK news and current affairs magazine but it was a good six months for other news and current affairs titles, with The Week, The Oldie, Prospect and BBC History magazine all up on the first half of 2011 and year on year, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Thursday.

Private Eye averaged 228,112 copies a fortnight in the six months to the end of December, up 10.6% on the previous half year and a 10.1% year-on-year rise.

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