Higher food prices may be here to stay, the Bank of England's chief economist has said.

The rate at which food prices are rising was expected to slow to about 10% by the end of the year.

A return to cheaper food was something we may not be seeing for a while yet, if in the future at all.

The price of food and non-alcoholic drinks rose by 17.4% in the year to June.

Over the last few months, the food inflation rate has gradually been dropping after hitting a high of 19.2% in March, according to official figures.

It comes days after the Bank decided to raise interest rates for the 14th time in a row in a bid to increase the cost of borrowing, dampen demand and therefore slow price rises.  Inflation remains far above the Bank of England’s target of 2%.

Food price inflation has been more long lasting than expected and there has been some hiccups with bringing it down – notably the war in Ukraine and the export of grain out of the Black Sea.

Global prices for certain commodities were starting to fall, but some firms had locked in higher prices when the war in Ukraine had first started in the face of uncertainty, which has led to higher prices on the shelves.

Overall, shop prices were still 7.6% higher in July than the same time a year ago, according to the British Retail Consortium and Nielsen IQ.