Office workers desperate for news from the final day of the Ashes on Monday helped the BBC Sport website attract a record number of users.

Throughout the day 3.3 million cricket fans logged on to the website to follow coverage of the fifth Test, beating the record set on the day that London was named as the venue for the Olympics in 2012.

And more than half a million people listened online to the live commentary, with people accessing Test Match Special through the Five Live, Radio 4 and sport websites.

"People in offices have been desperate to check what's going on via their office PCs," said Ben Gallop, editor of BBC Sport Interactive.

"What's really taken us by surprise has been the whole new audience who have been introduced to cricket this summer.

"We've seen a three-fold increase in the space of a year, with many more women and young people taking an interest in the sport."

Mr Gallop said traffic levels for the BBC Sport website have been unprecedented across the summer thanks to the Ashes and the dedicated BBC cricket website saw 7 million unique users visit August - a three-fold increase on August 2004.

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