Britain's economy shrank by a record 5.8 per cent in March from February as the coronavirus crisis escalated and the government ordered a shutdown of much of the country to stop the spread of the virus, Reuters reported, quoting official data.

Figures for April are likely to show an even bigger fall because the entire month was spent under lockdown by British companies and consumers.

In the first three months of the year, the gross domestic product contracted by 2pc from the last three months of 2019, the Office for National Statistics said.

That was the largest quarter-on-quarter fall since the end of 2008, during the depths of the financial crisis, though slightly smaller than the average 2.5pc forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.