Inflation dipped last month as retailers were forced to slash prices in a bid to attract shoppers in to their stores.

Discounting by furniture and food retailers contributed to a 0.2 percentage point fall in the Consumer Prices Index to 1.4 per cent, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Lower mobile and landline telephone charges and lower health service costs also helped push the figure down, the ONS said.

The pressure on retailers to act more competitively for sales was seen to be largely a result of rising interest rates.

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