Britain crawls out of recession

Britain has limped out of its longest ever recession after official data for the fourth quarter of 2009 showed that it had grown 0.1 per cent.

The economy had previously shrunk for six consecutive quarters, the longest amount of time since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.

However, the weaker than expected growth is a blow for Gordon Brown, the embattled UK prime minister, who must call a general election by June.

A spokesmen for Brown said the premier was "confident but cautious" about future growth following the release of the figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.