Britain's biggest banks are under fire after announcing plans to hit homeowners with interest rate hikes from Friday while failing to pass on higher rates to savers.

On Thursday the Bank of England raised the base rate of interest by 0.25 per cent, up from 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent, its highest level in nearly a decade.

The rate hike, described as the first "real" interest rate rise since the financial crisis, will be seen by many as an attempt by Governor Mark Carney to build ammunition to tackle a potential economic downturn following Brexit.

An increase in base rate should provide a boost to savers as banks pass on the higher rate through interest paid on accounts, while borrowers can expect to pay more for mortgages and loans as a result.

Tonight banks confirmed so-called "floating rate" mortgages would rise in line with base rate as soon as today, making them more expensive for millions of borrowers.

But while announcing mortgage hikes institutions including Lloyds, Nationwide, RBS Barclays and HSBC, remained silent on whether the rate rise would be passed onto savers.

James Daley, director at consumer campaign group Fairer Finance, accused banks of "passing on the pain" to savers. He said: "Its been a problem for decades that the banks always pass the pain onto savers but not the benefits.