BRITAIN'S trade deficit with the rest of the world widened to a record £3.2bn in June, official figures have revealed.

The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), compare with a £2.5bn deficit in May.

Philip Shaw, economist at Investec, said the figure was an "erratic blip" rather than a worrying trend.

"There are some theories it is strong consumer spending, but we are pointing the finger at imports of aircrafts and precious stones in June."

He said: "I don't think it will mushroom over the next few months."

The ONS figures also showed Britain's public finances recorded a surplus of £9.3bn, compared with a cash requirement of £8.1bn in June.

The figures are much higher than the £6.5bn forecast by analysts. July figures usually show a move into surplus, helped by corporation and income tax payments.

Economists said the public finance figures were boosted by larger-than-expected corporation tax receipts. The figures, taken with data on mortgages, gave further evidence of a two-speed economy, with bad trade figures but a strong mortgage market.

"There has been a wave of data, giving an overall illustration of the two-speed economy," said Mr Shaw.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Gerrard, said: "A raft of economic data shows the consumer to still be borrowing heavily, the public sector's accounts to have moved back into the black and the trade deficit continuing to widen."

He added that the data was unlikely to impact greatly on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee's interest rate decisions.

"The imbalances within the economy are clearly evident and, judging by the minutes of the last policy meeting, the authorities will be in no rush to sanction any further easing until there are signs that the consumer is being forced to draw in its firepower."

The June trade figures showed Britain's deficit with EU countries was little changed at £100m, while its deficit with non-EU countries widened to £3.1bn compared with £2.4bn in May.

In June, total exports fell 1.5 per cent to £16.1bn while imports rose 2.5 per cent to £19.4bn.