Clubs outside the Premier League have cut their payments to agents by 28 per cent.

Football League figures for player transactions in the last six months of 2008 show £5.7m paid to middlemen, compared to £7.9m for the second half of 2007.

Crystal Palace were London's biggest spenders, paying out £248,140 - a significant increase on the £35,000 they spent in the same period in 2007.

But the capital's other Championship clubs curbed their spending, with Charlton paying £231,000, Queens Park Rangers £40,290 and Watford £84,994.

Millwall, Barnet and Dagenham paid nothing to agents while Leyton Orient committed £7,000 and Brentford £3,000.

League chairman Lord Mawhinney, who has been campaigning for clubs to be more careful with their cash, said: "Given the severe economic recession, it is encouraging to see these figure declining.

"Part of this decrease is likely to be a consequence of the new agents' regulations introduced by the FA.

"These prohibit clubs from making one-off payments to players which they then use to pay their agent's fees. The upshot is that, in some cases, agents' fees will have been absorbed into player salaries instead."