Official data from The Office for National Statistics showed that inflation slowed in April from a record high as the cost of household bills fell sharply.

It said consumer prices rose 0.3% last month and 2.8% on the year. This was down from 3.1% in March, a level which had forced the central bank to write an unprecedented explanatory letter to the government. Analysts had predicted the latest easing and as such the figures are unlikely to settle the debate about whether interest rates need to rise again after the Bank of England hiked them to 5.5% last week.

Markets say there is a good chance of rates rising to 5.75% in the next few months, which would be the fifth increase since August last year.

The main reason for inflation slipping from its series high was a fall in gas and electricity bills as the major providers took on board lower global energy prices after last year’s oil spike.

However, there was less good news on inflation from food as the price of vegetables rose because of the change in recent weather patterns. The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 6% on the year, which is the highest rate since June 2001. Retail price inflation, on which most pay deals are based, eased to 4.5% from a 16-year high of 4.8%