The UK economy grew by an estimated 0.6 per cent in the first three months of this year despite industrial output falling for the third quarter in a row, official data showed.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were in line with City expectations but represented a slowdown on the 0.7 per cent expansion in the final quarter of last year.

An increase of 0.1 per cent in manufacturing output was wiped out by a fresh fall in industrial production after unseasonably warm weather at the start of the year cut demand for electricity, the ONS said.

Oil firms recovered less oil from the ground at a time when the closure of Ellington Colliery in Northumberland in January contributed to a drop-off in coal production.

According to the ONS figures, industrial production fell 0.1 per cent in the first three months of the year to follow declines of 0.1 per cent and 1.2 per cent in the previous two quarters.

Investec economist Philip Shaw said the figures were relatively uncontentious and unlikely to have a bearing on the General Election, where the economic record of Chancellor Gordon Brown has formed a key plank of Labour's campaign for re-election.

Mr Brown is targeting economic growth of between three per cent and 3.5 per cent over the full year, but Mr Shaw said his analysis suggested 2.7 per cent was a more likely outcome.

The economy continues to be powered by growth in the service sector, although the 0.8 per cent expansion between January and March represents its weakest rate since the second quarter of 2003.