Inflation means it’s time to kill off coppers, according to Bank of England economists.

Marilena Angeli and Jack Meaning, of the Bank of England, said in a blog post today that “as inflation steadily erodes the purchasing power of low denomination coinage, the case for its removal becomes stronger."

Figures show low value coins end up “down back of the sofa” or “lost to the ether” adding to the case for scrapping the penny, according to Bank of England research.

Six out of ten 1p and 2p coins are used only once before they are abandoned, and fears that removing the coins from circulation would add to inflationary pressures are ill-founded, the economists said.

Fewer items are sold at the 99p price mark nowadays, meaning fewer would be rounded up to whole figures if 1p and 2pc coins were abandoned.

While 70pc of prices already end in zero or five pence, the remaining 30pc may need to be rounded up or down by small amounts.