Supermarket price wars and the falling cost of petrol last month helped push inflation in Britain down further from its peak, official figures revealed today.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of inflation fell to 4.8 per cent in November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, compared to 5 per cent the previous month.

The cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks rose at its lowest rate since July 2010 after supermarkets launched aggressive price wars and a strong harvest saw the price of fresh vegetables and bread fall.

A 1p per litre fall in the cost of petrol between October and November also helped ease the burden on cash-strapped consumers who had been hit by 1.8p rise a year ago.

And the warm weather during the month prompted retailers to put on promotions on clothes to drum up trade, with coats and jumpers seeing falls in prices.

But a utility tariff hike from big six supplier EDF continued to pile pressure on consumers, who are still struggling to cope with average wage growth far below the rate of inflation.

The cost of alcohol and tobacco also saw a record rise for an October to November period, mainly driven by red wine price hikes.

Inflation peaked at a three-year high of 5.2 per cent in September and the Bank of England expects it to fall back to its 2 per cent target over the next two years.

PA