Price falls for food items like meat and chocolate biscuits helped drive inflation down to its lowest level in two-and-a-half years.

The rate consumer prices have been rising fell to 3.2% in the year to March, down from 3.4% the month before, according to official figures.

Inflation has been falling gradually since it peaked at 11.1% in late 2022.

However, lower inflation does not mean prices overall are coming down, they are just rising less quickly.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the price rises seen across most types of food products eased between February and March, with small increases being seen for bread and cereals, the BBC reported.

But meat prices fell by 0.5% between February and March, compared with a rise of 1.4% a year ago, with pork products one of the big reasons behind the slowing rate.

Soaring food and energy bills have been the main causes behind the UK's high inflation in recent years.

Oil and gas were in greater demand after the Covid pandemic, and prices surged again when Russia invaded Ukraine, cutting global supplies. The conflict also reduced the amount of grain for sale, pushing up food prices.

It led to inflation for food and non-alcoholic drinks hitting a peak of 19.2% in March last year - the highest level seen since the 1970s.

Elsewhere, the latest official figures showed the prices of furniture and household goods like cleaning products fell by 0.9% in the year to March.

However, Rachel Reeves, Labour's shadow chancellor said working people would still feel worse off.

The latest inflation data comes ahead of the Bank of England's next decision on interest rates on May 9.