Orange shrugged aside concerns about a slowdown in the mobile phone market today by ringing up a jump in subscriber numbers and revenue.

The group added 284,000 new customers in the UK in the first three months of the year, 38 per cent more than the previous quarter.

The company, majority-owned by France Telecom, said it was also beginning to see the amount of money spent by each of its UK subscribers rise.

The key average annual revenue per user (ARPU) measure edged up in the UK for the first time in the first quarter, to £247 from £246 three months ago.

The growth was reflected by Orange's operations worldwide as the company took its total customer base to 40.5 million by adding 1.27 million subscribers.

Total turnover across the business in the quarter rose 16 per cent to £2.48 billion - in line with expectations in the City.

Deputy chief executive and chief financial officer Graham Howe said: "These results keep Orange on track to meet our stated forecasts for 2002.

"As we reach high levels of mobile penetration and growing customer maturity, we see higher wirefree usage as mobile increasingly becomes the primary voice communication device for our customers."