The Bank of England have held interest rates at their historic low of 0.5% and decided to inject another £25bn into the UK economy by extending their programme of quantitative easing.

The rate hold - the eighth month that interest rates have now been at their current record low - was widely expected but economists had been unsure whether the Bank would extend its quantitative easing scheme.

The Bank has already spent £175bn on quantitative easing, which involves printing money to buy assets from banks and other companies to stimulate the economy

"Today's decision was always going to be finely balanced, but the MPC has clearly seen through the recent upbeat data and recognised the underlying fragility of the economy," said Steve Radley, chief economist at the manufacturers' organisation EEF.