Half of Britons believe interest rates will rise within a year

The poll of 2,000 people was conducted between August 7th and 15th, meaning some respondents would have seen the Bank's latest Inflation Report, which was published on August 13 and showed the economy remained strong, despite weak wage growth.

However, the answers were collected before minutes of the Bank's August interest rate meeting were published, which revealed that two rate setters - Martin Weale and Ian McCafferty - voted for a 0.25 percentage point increase to 0.75pc.

Mr Weale voted for a rates to rise between January and July 2011, when the economy was picking up and inflation was close to hitting 5pc. He was joined by Andrew Sentance, a former external member of the MPC and Spencer Dale, ex-chief economist.

The survey also showed inflation expectations were creeping up. Households believe prices will rise by 2.8pc over the coming year, compared with 2.6pc three months ago and the current inflation rate of 1.6pc.

For the next two years, inflation expectations, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose to 2.8pc from 2.5pc in May, while inflation expectations five years from now rose to 3.4pc from 2.9pc in May.

A fifth of respondents said higher interest rates would be best for the economy, unchanged from May, while more than a third said rates should stay where they are.

Bank policymakers voted to keep interest rates on hold for a 66th consecutive month in September .

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