TWO members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise interest in August, the first time in three years policymakers have backed a rise.

The split decision is the first under governor Mark Carney's tenure.

Minutes of the last MPC meeting showed that Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale voted for a 25 basis point rise in interest rates.

These members noted that the continuing rapid fall in unemployment, alongside survey evidence of tightening in the labour market created a prospect that wage growth would pick up.

The MPC voted 7-2 to hold interest rates from their historic low of 0.5%.

The pound jumped in expectation of an earlier rate rise than first thought.

Sterling rose 0.20% against the US dollar to $1.66.

If follows official data on Tuesday which showed inflation fell to 1.6% in July.

It is the first time there has been a split on the MPC since July 2011.