A cut in interest rates before Christmas looked unlikely last night after it was revealed that the Bank of England's decision to leave the cost of borrowing unchanged was unanimous.

All nine members of the bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) voted to keep rates at 4.5 per cent - the second consecutive month without dissent.

Although some MPC members were convinced that the risks to consumer demand had increased, those fears were offset by the dangers posed by inflation and oil prices.

The Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation had risen to 2.4 per cent, taking it further away from the MPC's target of two per cent in two years' time.

The MPC was also concerned about higher oil prices having a knock-on effect on wage deals and inflation expectations in the medium-term, although there was little sign of that happening at present.

The report said: "If such effects were to take hold, the committee would need to run a tighter monetary policy than would otherwise have been the case." The MPC felt next month's inflation report would provide a clearer picture of the UK economy.

If the oil price did not rise further, then its impact on inflation "was likely to fade towards the end of the year", the report said.

Economic growth in the UK continued to be sluggish last month, although the MPC voiced concerns about the reliability of official data.

Business surveys were at odds with official figures that found the service sector slowing more sharply than expected.

This deceleration in the service sector led to the annual rate of GDP growth being revised down by Government statisticians.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates year-on-year GDP growth to be 1.5 per cent, compared with its forecast in August of 1.8 per cent.

Investec economist David Page said the minutes of the MPC meeting this month were in line with recent speeches given by senior bank officials, including governor Mervyn King, who said last week that the economy faced a period of uncertainty.