Pressure mounted on the Monetary Policy Committee to deliver a cut in UK interest rates on Thursday, after a clutch of weak data suggested the economy was slowing more abruptly than the Bank of England had hoped.

The purchasing managers’ index of services activity, which the Bank of England relies on to improve its estimates of economic growth, fell from 53.1 to 51.9 in November. This is its lowest level since May 2003, when interest rates were only 3.75 per cent. In the housing sector, the Halifax index showed a fall for the third month in a row.