Recession-hit Britain's 12-month consumer price inflation slowed to 2.3 per cent last month while retail prices sank at their fastest pace since records began in 1948, official data showed yesterday.

Consumer Price Index inflation - the government's target measure - was pushed lower by falling domestic electricity and gas bills, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

"This was principally due to electricity and gas bills which fell this year but rose a year ago. Also, housing rents and water and sewerage charges rose by less than a year ago," the ONS said.

April's was the lowest CPI reading since January last year and compared with 2.9 per cent in March. However, the measure does not include mortgage costs.

The ONS also revealed that the Retail Prices Index annual inflation rate, which includes the cost of home loans, fell to a record minus 1.2 per cent in April from minus 0.4 per cent in March due to falling home loan payments.

"There was a large downward pressure from housing where the largest effect came from mortgage interest payments following March's half-point decrease in the bank rate from one per cent to 0.5 per cent," it said.

The Bank of England has now slashed British interest rates six times since October to the current record-low of 0.5 per cent as it seeks to fight a deepening recession.

The RPI rate had turned negative in March for the first time in almost 50 years. Last month, it hit the lowest level since the series began in 1948.

The data sparked renewed fears of deflation, the term for a prolonged period of falling consumer prices.

However, for deflation to take place, inflation as measured by CPI would have to be negative for a number of months.