Inflation in the UK has accelerated to a 40-year high as the soaring cost of food squeezed household budgets.

The consumer price index rose 10.1 per cent in September, compared with 9.9 per cent the previous month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The new data showed inflation returned to the July peak and was once again at the highest since early 1982.

The increase was driven by food prices, which leapt by 14.5 per cent from a year earlier, the biggest jump since 1980, the ONS said.

The rise increased expectations that the Bank of England would raise interest rates further and faster as it struggles to return inflation to its 2 per cent target.

It will also make it more difficult for the government's new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, who took office less than a week ago, to restore financial stability after the government's economic plan unsettled financial markets over the past month.

Mr Hunt has said the government "will prioritise help for the most vulnerable while delivering wider economic stability."

Russia's war in Ukraine has boosted food and energy prices around the world, with shipments of oil, grain and cooking oil disrupted.

That has added to price rises that began last year as the global economy started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

AP