ITV Good Morning Britain forced to halt show as Charlotte Hawkins delivers breaking news

announced that the inflation rate has slowed to a rise of 1.7 percent in September, below the Bank of England's target of 2 percent for the first time in nearly three years.

She then turned to her colleague Jonathan Swain, who spoke about this "good news" while reporting live from Penge.

He said: "It doesn't mean things are getting cheaper. It means prices are not rising as fast as they once were. I'll take you back to October 2022 when inflation was at 11 percent, and that rate has now dropped to 1.7 percent.

"Normally, when inflation rates come down, you expect mortgage rates to come down as well. However, that is not necessarily the case."

September's figure is normally used to set how much many benefits rise, such as Universal Credit, next April.

This includes all the main disability benefits - personal independence payment, attendance allowance and disability living allowance - and carer's allowance.

The Office for National Statistics said motor fuels and lubricant prices were significantly lower, dropping by 10.4% in September compared with the same month a year earlier.

Air travel costs also dragged down the inflation rate, as lower airfares were due to post-summer sales.

However, households were hit by a jump in food and non-alcoholic drink inflation, with stronger price increases for milk, cheese, eggs and fruit.

Chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said the drop in the pace of price rises "will be welcome news for millions of families".

"However, there is still more to do to protect working people, which is why we are focused on bringing back growth and restoring economic stability to deliver on the promise of change," he added.

Encouragingly, core inflation has also fallen - but it's still higher than the headline CPI index.

The Core CPI rate - which strips out energy, food, alcohol and tobacco - sat at 3.2% in the 12 months to September down from 3.6% in August. Goods prices fell at a faster rate dropping to -1.4% last month from -0.9% in August

Services inflation - which rose over the summer due to the "Taylor Swift" effect and is also made up in part by wages - also slowed from 5.6% to 4.9%.

All of these elements seem to pave the way for an interest rate cut in November with many believing a cut of 0.25 percentage points could be on the table, with a second cut in December not impossible.

Amy Knight, personal finance expert at NerdWallet UK said: "The difference between a 0.25 and 0.5% drop could have a significant bearing on monthly repayments for new and existing mortgages.

"Borrowers who've found high rates particularly painful can look forward to having a portion of their income back, making family finances less stressful. First-time buyers could also find it easier to pass lenders' affordability checks, particularly if they've been diligent about maintaining their credit history."