Britain’s economic expansion is expected to have ground to a halt in the second quarter, economists said on Wednesday, after the latest set of official figures set up a summer of speculation over whether the UK is sliding into recession.

The latest monthly statistics from the Office for National Statistics showed a 0.3 per cent recovery in May’s gross domestic product from the 0.4 per cent drop in April, but the boost still left the level of output in the second quarter lower than the average in the first quarter.

The figures almost guarantee a weak first half of the year for the UK economy, requiring Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt, to add “possible recession” to the list of pressing concerns, whichever of them enters Number 10 as the new prime minister this month.