Osborne: Economy is healing, says chancellor

Official figures have suggested the double-dip recession is over, with the UK economy estimated to have grown by a higher than expected 1% in the three months to the end of September.

The Office for National Statistics said it was the largest quarterly rise in economic output, or GDP, for five years - partly due to the poor performance of the economy in the previous three months, and to the impact of the Olympics.

The figures leave GDP unchanged from the same period last year and mean that it is back to around half the level seen before the start of the recession in 2008.

The Chancellor, George Osborne, said the figures showed the government's economic policies were working.