Food prices push inflation in Britain

LONDON, April 15 (UPI) -- Consumer inflation held to 2.5 percent in Britain in March, but food inflation concerns are rising throughout the country, sources said.

Prices manufacturers pay rose to a record annual rate of 20.6 in March, with prices food manufacturers pay for food produced in the United Kingdom rising to an annual rate of 33 percent, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

"This is a pretty horrid set of data that will not go down at all well at the Bank of England," economist Howard Archer, of Global Insight, told the newspaper.

One research group, MySupermarket.co.uk found the average grocery bill has risen 11 percent from a year ago.

Almost in sync, giant British food-seller Tesco announced annual profits of $5.59 billion, 11.8 percent above its profits a year ago, the report said.