UK inflation unexpectedly rose to 10.4% in February - defying expectations that it would go down again following three months of decline.
The rate is up from the 10.1% that was recorded the previous month in January, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Analysts had expected inflation to drop to 9.9% after it had started to fall back from its 41-year high of 11.1% in October.