Bank of England voted 8:1on rate rise

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted by and eight to one majority to raise interest rates earlier this month.

Rates rose by a quarter of a point to 3.75% as details of the Bank's policy of moving cautiously became clear after the publishing of the November minutes.

Only one member of the MPC wanted to leave the Bank's main rate at a 48-year low of 3.5%.

Some analysts had forecast an increase to 4% in an effort to halt the boom in the housing sector.

Higher household debt burdens left the committee uncertain as to how consumers would react to any interest rate rise.

The MPC also predicted that inflation would remain above the BOE's target rate of 2.5% for most of the next two years and would continue to rise towards the end of 2005.

Data released by Britain's Office for National Statistics also indicated economic growth of 0.8% in the first half of the year suggesting that the outlook was not as bad as feared.