Food price increases add 3% to living costs

FOOD, clothing, petrol and insurance costs all rose last month, bringing more grief for struggling consumers.

The cost of living is up by 3% in the last year, the highest level since October 2008.

Food prices rose 0.1% last month and are up 1.1% in the year. Big increases in the year were seen with a 13.8% hike in flour, 12.8% increase in butter and 5.1% rise in bread. The cost of potatoes fell 18.4% in the year, but increased 0.4% last month.