The economy went into reverse in April amid Iran war chaos, official figures showed today.

GDP dipped by 0.1 per cent over the month, with the powerhouse services sector bearing the brunt of the pain.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves blamed the Middle East crisis for the poor performance - which was largely in line with the expectations of analysts.

She said: 'Before the conflict in the Middle East, growth was higher than expected and inflation was falling. This is not a war we wanted or joined, but one that will have an impact at home.

'Our economic plan is the right one, with both the IMF and OECD upgrading their forecasts for growth recently.

'The choices I have made as Chancellor mean our economy is in a stronger position to deal with the costs of the war, and we are getting on with the job of building a stronger and more secure economy.'

The decline in April - the first contraction for eight months - was driven by a 0.2 per cent fall in services, including a 4.3 per cent drop in arts, entertainment and recreation.

The sports industry industry saw a 9.1 per cent contraction in output as a raft of sporting events in the Middle East were cancelled due to the conflict.

The drop for services was partly offset by a 0.1 per cent rise in construction and 0.4 per cent growth in manufacturing. 

The figures are the latest signal that the Iran war is squeezing activity, after recent official retail figures revealed sales fell at their fastest rate for almost a year, down 1.3 per cent as soaring petrol and diesel prices hit fuel sales.

In the three months to April, GDP grew by 0.7 per cent, according to the ONS.

Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics said: 'The economy grew in the latest three months as a whole, reflecting strong growth in February and March.

'This was despite April showing a small fall.'