Britain’s builders are struggling to pick up more work as order books sag and materials costs rise, disappointing hopes that the industry would rebound from a snow-hit first quarter of 2018.

Business activity grew only slowly in May, according to IHS Markit’s purchasing managers’ index, which held steady at 52.5 - only modestly above the 50-level that indicates no change on the month.

Residential construction is leading the way with stronger growth than commercial or civil engineering work.

But new order volumes contracted for the fourth time in five months, indicating this may be as good as it gets for the sector.

“Activity in May was once again buoyed by some firms still catching up from disruptions caused by the unusually poor weather conditions in March, and a renewed drop in new work hinted that the recovery could prove short-lived,” said economist Sam Teague at IHS Markit.