Interest rates highest for 15 years...............

Interest rates will stay higher for longer, the Bank of England has said for the first time, in an effort to battle soaring price rises.

The Bank revealed the tactic to try and curb the rising cost of living as it raised rates again to 5.25% from 5%.

Borrowing costs are now at their highest for 15 years, and will mean higher mortgages and loans payments but should also mean higher savings rates.

The Bank was more downbeat on growth, but said the UK would avoid recession.

On Thursday, the Bank signalled for the first time that it would keep interest rates higher and that they would remain higher until it got UK inflation - the rate at which prices rise - under control.

It said it would make sure rates are "sufficiently restrictive for sufficiently long" but did not spell out how long this would be.

"We know that inflation hits the least well-off hardest and we need to make absolutely sure that it fall all the way back to the 2% target," said Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey.

The Bank's inflation forecasts have been incorrect in the past, with six of the last eight too optimistic.

Mr Bailey says it is now "more assured" that inflation will fall than in previous forecasts.

He also says the economy has been "much more resilient" than some had feared and that unemployment remains historically very low.