Consumer confidence collapsed to a 12-year low in the final two weeks of March as the crisis escalated and the lockdown came into force

The coronavirus lockdown will cost the economy £2.4 billion a day for as long as it lasts and consumer confidence has crashed to its lowest level since the financial crisis, according to two gloomy new reports about the state of the economy.

Shutting down the economy will reduce Britain’s gross domestic product by 31 per cent as social restrictions prevent businesses from functioning, the Centre for Economics and Business Research said. Output at hotels, restaurants, retailers, cleaning services, museums and galleries and manufacturing will more than halve.

The figures are consistent with those put forward by other economists, who have warned that the economy will shrink by 30 per cent in the second quarter of the year, while the national lockdown is expected to remain