UK's £500m tackle trade employs 18,000

The tackle trade employs more than 18,000 and turns over more than £500m a year, says a survey out this weekend.

Figures included in a survey by industry journal Tackle and Guns Magazine show the trade overall has grown by around five per cent since the last survey three years ago - and carp fishing has grown by a mammoth 42pc in that time.

We spend more than £100m on bait a year, more than twice what we spend on clothing, the T&G survey says.

Coarse anglers spend £169.7m, carp anglers £110.69m, game anglers £138.29m and sea anglers £97.12m.