Howard Archer, chief UK economist at HIS Global Insight, said there was an increased concern the Leave vote would push the country into recession

Activity in Britain’s services sector has dropped to its lowest level in more than three years as fears ahead of the Brexit vote led to a sharp drop in demand in June, according to figures published by Markit.

The latest purchasing managers’ index showed growth grinding to just 0.2 per cent in the second quarter, with most of the slowdown coming in the last month. It fell from an average reading in the first three months of the year of 54.2 to 52.2.

Markit said the figures likely pointed to an easing in the rate of GDP growth from 0.4 per cent to 0.2 per cent, figures that the analysts said clearly indicated the Bank of England would need to do more to stimulate the