New car motor finance increased by 27% in value, year-on-year, to £806m in February, according to figures released by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA).

There were 51,207 new cars sold on finance in February, 22% more than the same month in the previous year.

There was a similar story for used car finance, with the number of cars sold on finance growing 18% year-on-year to 109,305 and the value of advances growing 23% over the same period to £1.16bn.

Over the 12 months to February 2016, more than 1m new cars and nearly 1.2m used cars were bought on finance by consumers.

Commenting on the figures, Geraldine Kilkelly, head of research and chief economist at the FLA, said: "February saw the point-of-sale consumer new car finance market report its twelfth consecutive month of growth in new business volumes. For the first time on record, annual new business volumes in this market surpassed the 1 million mark, with the majority of these purchased on finance secured against the car."