The end of cheaper restaurant meals pushed UK prices up last month after the Eat Out to Help Out scheme expired.

The end of cheaper restaurant meals pushed UK prices up last month after the Eat Out to Help Out scheme expired.

The UK’s inflation rate, which tracks the prices of goods and services, climbed to 0.5% in September, from 0.2% in August.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) began rising more quickly in September after the discount meals scheme ended, pushing up restaurant and café prices,

Transport costs also went up as demand for second-hand cars increased.

In catering services, prices rose 4.1% between August and September 2020, compared with a rise of 0.2% between the same two months in 2019.

Transport costs rose for the first time since March, partly because the price of second-hand cars was boosted by increased demand as people, reportedly, looked to reduce their reliance on public transport, said the Office for National Statistics (ONS).