The house builder said in a statement ahead of its annual general meeting that total sales for the year to April 30 rose 11% year-on-year to 1,208.

Some 640 sales were brought forward from 2009 with the balance achieved in the first 17 weeks of the year.

Bovis has already spent the £59m raised from a share issue last September on land and earlier in 2010 arranged for a new banking facility to continue the buying spree.

So far it has added 811 plots to its land bank and agreed terms on a further 18 sites, which will provide about 2,500 plots.

Bovis said that its focus on buying good land would support an increase in trading activity and improve profit margins.

With net cash of £130m, the developer aims to entice vendors to sell land by offering more cash up front than other house builders can afford.

.