The steady decline of religion in Britain has come to a halt, new figures show.

According to the data, between 2009 and 2015 there was no increase in people saying they have no religion.

This was in comparison to a gradual increase from 32 per cent in 1983 up to 51 per cent in 2009.

Research agency NatCen's figures show the figure stands at 48 per cent today, with the proportion describing themselves as having no religion never rising above the 2009 peak.

It says this halt is largely due to the proportion of people saying they are a Christian of some kind being relatively stable since 2009.

However, it highlighted this may mask a slight decrease in the number of Anglicans and a slight increase in those following non-Christian religions, since 2009.

Ian Simpson, senior researcher at NatCen Social Research, said: "The proportion of people saying they have no religion peaked at 51 per cent in 2009 and has plateaued since then.

"It appears that the steady decline of religion in Britain has come to a halt, at least for now."

The 2015 British Social Attitudes survey consisted of 4,328 interviews with a representative, random sample of adults in Britain with a response rate of 51 per cenht.