Hosepipe site makes web history

Internet domain name registry Nominet has revealed that the number of web addresses ending with dot-uk has now passed the five million mark.

The five millionth domain name - www.hosepipebanbuster.co.uk - was registered earlier this month by an irrigation company based in Hertfordshire.

When it was founded in 1996, Nominet registered 2,000 dot-uk domains in its first month of operation. Now the world's fourth largest internet registry, it is handling around 144,000 registrations every month.

Only 57 per cent of domain names registered are associated with a live website but this still means there are almost three million active dot-uk websites online.

Nominet chief executive Lesley Cowley said the UK market for domain names remains "incredibly buoyant", with companies increasingly building a web presence into their main business strategy.

She said in a statement: "We look forward to a bright future for dot-uk domain names."

Half of dot-uk domain names link to ecommerce or business information sites, with a further 16 per cent displaying 'under construction' holding pages for businesses or individuals.

Around 170,000 dot-uk domain names have been registered for personal use, with increasing demand linked to the rise in broadband use.

About 70 per cent of domain names are renewed, which Nominet said suggests that dot-uk websites are being used and are valuable to the people that own them.