Falling fuel prices are expected to have helped UK inflation ease back again last month as Wednesday’s official figures are set to offer further signs that the peak of the cost of living crisis has passed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is set to show the rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation falling to 10.5 per cent last month from 10.7 per cent in November, according to most economists.

It is thought that sharp drops in the prices at petrol pumps is behind the expected decline, which would mark the second month in a row that the rate of inflation has dropped back.

UK inflation falls slightly but remains close to 40-year high