GDP growth in the second quarter of the year remained unchanged at 1.2 per cent in its final revision.

This puts it at its fastest rate for nine years following last month's upgrade from 1.1 due to better-than-expected figures from the construction sector.

This time around, business investment was also revised up as overall GDP expansion was found to be less reliant on stock building than previous figures suggested.

The Office for National Statistics also revised the growth figure for the first three months of the year from 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent.

However, economists have warned that the pace is likely to slow in the second half of the year as spending cuts kick in.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: ‘Latest data and survey evidence point to a marked slowdown in growth in the third quarter, and we expect GDP growth to be bumpy and gradual overall though the rest of 2010 and during 2011. Specifically, we forecast GDP growth at 1.6 per cent in both 2010 and 2011.’

He now expects the Bank of England to keep interest at their record low of 0.5 per cent until the second half of 2011.

Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics, added: ‘With income set to come under further pressure over the coming quarters as the fiscal squeeze bites, there are clear doubts over whether households can carry on spending like they did in the second quarter. Overall, there are still very good reasons to be cautious over the sustainability of the economic recovery.’