UK on track to avoid recession despite Brexit chaos

Growth is weak but strong summer for services and a TV-film industry boom lifts quarterly figures

Britain is on track to avoid a recession despite mounting Brexit uncertainty after official figures showed an unexpectedly strong jump in economic growth over the summer.

The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product had risen by 0.3% in the three months to the end of August, beating the forecasts of City economists, helped by the strength of the services sector and a boom in TV and film production across the country.

Gross domestic product (GDP) measures the total value of activity in the economy over a given period of time.