Consumer lending in Britain rose at the fastest pace in nearly five years and new mortgage approvals grew faster than expected as the first signs of the economic recovery continue.

Bank of England data published Monday showed a massive £1.2bn surge in consumer credit, including bank overdrafts, the biggest monthly advance since February 2008. While at the same time, mortgage approvals for the month of September surged past 50,000 and new home loans grew by £491m.

The figures add more depth to a series of economic data which indicates that Britain has firmly exited its first double-dip recession since the early 1970s. In line with figures released earlier this month by the Office for National Statistics which said the economy had grown at its fastest quarterly pace in five years, and, that employment had rose to a record 29.59 million. They also highlighted Inflation easing to a three-and a half year low of 2.2%.

House prices around the country remain subdued, however, despite the new lending figures. Hometrack said today that UK prices had fallen for a fourth consecutive month in October - by 0.1 % and warned that demand for new homes is "likely to slow in the run-up to the year-end with agents looking to push through as many sales as possible," according to research director Richard Donnell.

While Credit growth which has been a major objective of both the government and the Bank of England, jointly launched a "Funding for Lending" scheme in August with the aim of generating £80bn in new company loan. To provide access to loans to households, families and many small companies. Which has been a major factor stalling growth over the past few years.

Written and presented by Ann Salter