UK inflation in January rose to a six-month high as petrol and house prices rose, official figures show.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) stood at 1.8% last month, up from 1.3% in December,the Office for National Statistics said.

However Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon & Co expects the inflation rate to come back down again over the next few months.

"Since the coronavirus outbreak the global oil prices have gone down about $10 a barrel and that will start to be reflected at the petrol pump and you’ll start to see inflation soften in the middle of the year and then start to pick up," he told BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money programme.

"But let's put it into context - the Bank of England has a 2% inflation target and inflation is still firmly below that level.

"If you look at previous decades... people can remember 18% inflation. It's certainly a global phenomenon, it's not one unique to the UK that inflation is very, very low."