FANTASY games group Games Workshop reported a slowdown in UK sales as the buzz around the Lord of the Rings trilogy began to fade.

The group, which also makes the Warhammer battle game, said UK sales fell to £21m during the six months to November 28, from £22.3m a year ago.

It blamed the so-called bubble effect created by the Rings films since 2001 as enthusiasts flocked to Games Workshop stores to buy a tabletop version of the trilogy.

Benefits from the flurry of publicity around the launch of a version of the JRR Tolkien novels by publisher DeAgostini a couple of years ago had also passed.

Chairman and chief executive Tom Kirby said: "For some time, we have been enjoying a period of very strong growth in this market, and we have described this as a bubble effect, which may not be sustainable in the future.

"Well, sure enough, the bubble has begun to deflate and our UK sales business has seen a small decline in sales during the first half of this year.''

Investors were urged to take heart as sales of its flagship Warhammer games were higher than a year ago.

Managers had forecast the UK sales slowdown in advance, and said the business was in better shape to benefit from future growth than it had been for years, said Mr Kirby.

Group turnover was ahead at constant exchange rates by £1m at the half-year stage, although the reported figure dropped to £71m from £72m a year ago.

Profits also advanced to £7.7m from £7.4m last year.