BANK of England policymakers voted to keep rates on hold at 5.75 per cent in a further sign that interest rates may have reached their peak.

All nine members of the Bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to freeze rates amid uncertainty over the effects of the financial stock market turmoil, according to minutes of the September meeting.

The MPC said the upside risks to inflation outlined in its August quarterly inflation report - which pointed to the need for a possible further rate rise to six per cent - had now ''probably receded''.

But it added that the outlook for inflation was uncertain given the global credit crunch and potential knock-on effects.