by business editor Trevor Sturgess

Soaring petrol prices fuelled a steep rise in inflation last month, with the latest inflation figure - the last to be published before the General Election - showing a 3.4 per cent jump.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in March showed a big increase over the three per cent in February.

The Retail Prices Index (RPI), which includes mortgage payments, was 4.4 per cent, up from 3.7 per cent in February.

The rise in VAT from 15 per cent to 17.5 per cent in January is still being felt, along with higher petrol and diesel prices.

Air fares - before volcanic ash grounded aircraft - food and non-alcoholic drinks all went up.

The largest effect came from the steep rise in vegetable prices because of bad weather affecting supplies. The cost of clothing and shoes also increased.

The rise in RPI was driven mainly by mortgage interest payments which rose by 0.7 per cent this year but fell by 6.3 per cent a year ago following February 2009's half point fall in the Bank rate.

The Office for National Statistics said the only large downward pressure on CPI came from furniture, household equipment and maintenance where prices, overall, rose by less than a year ago.

Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser to the the CBI, the employers' organisation, said: "Higher petrol and seasonal food prices have pushed inflation up again.

"The combination of rising raw material prices and weak sterling is pushing up inflationary pressure here in the UK.

"But it is still likely that weak demand and excess capacity in the economy will come to dominate in pushing inflation down in the months ahead."

James Hughes, chief economist at Black Swan Capital wealth management, added: "The UK economy has some very deep, fundamental problems that won't be solved simply by installing a new government, and this sharp increase in UK inflation to 3.4 per cent is possibly just the start of an inevitable and unstoppable slide towards double-digit inflation and interest rates within the next few years."

The UK inflation rate of three per cent in February was well above the European Union rate of 1.4 per cent.