UK GDP is estimated to have risen by 0.1% in February and the figure for January has been revised up from 0.2% to 0.3% growth, raising expectations that the UK will avoid a prolonged recession.

Almost two-thirds of Britons expect the UK to enter a recession this year, with just a fifth confident that one will be avoided.

The UK economy returned to growth in August, with a 0.2% increase in GDP, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning.

The UK economy surprised economists by growing by 0.2% in the second quarter of the year and showed a much better than expected performance in June.