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Food prices are rising at their fastest rate for 45 years, with the cost of basics such as milk, cheese and eggs all surging, latest figures show

Food price inflation hit 16.2% in the year to October, up from 14.5% in September, BBC News reports.

Energy and fuel costs also rose, helping push the overall UK inflation rate to a 41-year high.

High prices are hitting poorer people hardest, as they spend more of their income on food and energy.

The latest overall inflation figure, which is 11.1%, is the highest since October 1981 and comes ahead of Thursday's Autumn Statement, which is expected to see Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announce public spending cuts and tax rises.

Mr Hunt said his plans will aim to bring spiralling price rises under control, adding that he would take "tough but necessary decisions" to get the economy back on track.

But Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said the surging inflation rate would "strike more fear in the heart of families across Britain".

"British people feel the impact of rising inflation so much more than other countries because 12 years of Tory economic failure has left us exposed to any shocks," she said.

Inflation is a measure of the cost of living and to calculate it, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) keeps track of the prices of hundreds of everyday items, known as a "basket of goods".

Items such as milk, pasta, margarine, eggs and cereals were among the food items that saw the sharpest price rises in October, it said.

Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the ONS, said that over the past year "gas prices have climbed nearly 130%, while electricity has risen by around 66%".

As inflation rises businesses are putting up their prices and households are cutting back their spending.