Prospect of UK interest rate rise dims as service sector struggles

Hotels and restaurants worst hit amid weaker recovery from cold snap than forecast

Britain's services sector struggled to bounce back in April from the big freeze in March that brought the economy to a grinding halt, increasing the likelihood of the Bank of England holding interest rates at 0.5% next week.

Services firms reported the third lowest level of business activity since the EU referendum in 2016 to defy City economists, who expected a stronger recovery from the cold weather in March.

Related: UK economy suffers weakest period of GDP growth in five years