Britain's economy contracted 0.7% in the second quarter of the year, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics.

This decline is less than the 0.8% that economists had predicted and the annual drop in GDP was also revised up to show a 5.5% fall - the initial estimates had suggested a 5.6% decline.

The British economy has contracted in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2008 but the second quarter's decline of 0.7% is a marked improvement on the first quarter's contraction of 2.4%.