Further signs of economic recovery have emerged after official figures showed growth has returned to the manufacturing sector for the first time in more than a year.
Revised numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) indicate that the downturn for manufacturers came to an end in March, with a 0.2% increase in month-on-month output.
April's just-released figures indicate the industry had maintained the rate of growth at 0.2%.
It is the first time the sector has seen growth since February 2008.
Manufacturers, while helped somewhat by the weakness in sterling, have been hit in the recession by falling demand and tight credit conditions.
The ONS said manufacturing output between February and April was still 13.2% lower than in the same period a year earlier.
Industrial production as a whole, which includes the energy and mining sectors, was 12.6% behind the same three-month period a year ago. On a monthly basis, total production was 0.3% higher in April than in March.
But Jonathan Loynes, of Capital Economics, said the ONS figures provide a "decent platform" for wider growth in the second quarter of the year.
Meanwhile, separate figures from the ONS show that the UK's trade gap in goods with the rest of the world widened in April despite signs that a weaker pound is helping European exports.
The deficit in goods widened to £7 billion from £6.5 billion over the month, the ONS said.
