Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle’s first album has become the fast-selling debut album in UK chart history.

‘I Dreamed A Dream’ sold 410,000 copies in its first week, beating previous record holder Leona Lewis.

It is also the fourth biggest first week sales for any artist album in chart history, according to the Official Charts Company.

The 48-year-old’s sales total has only been beaten by Oasis’ ‘Be Here Now’, Coldplay’s ‘X&Y’ and ‘The Circus’ by Take That.

Boyle shot to fame earlier this year when footage of her as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent spread across the Internet.

Martin Talbot, of the Official Charts Company, said: "Susan Boyle's achievement is quite phenomenal.

“After all of the excitement surrounding her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, everyone expected her to make a big impact when she released her first music – but to arrive with such a bang is exceptional.”

In what was an otherwise quite week on the album chart, there were no other new entries inside the top-10.

Meanwhile, the singles countdown was topped by comedian Peter Kay’s charity single for the BBC's Children In Need.

Rihanna’s ‘Russian Roulette’ was the only other new entry inside the top-10, charting at number six.

(by Jason Gregory)