A leading economic think-tank has predicted that is will take five years for income per head in the UK to return to the same level as before the recession.

The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) predicted that income per head would not return to the level of the first quarter of 2008 - before the recession began - until March 2014.

The NIESR also believe that the country's GDP will fall 4.3% this year before growing 1% and 1.8% in 2010 and 2011 and that unemployment will rise until mid 2011, peaking at 9.3%.