The UK economy maintained its sluggish start to the year, despite growth accelerating in the second quarter thanks to a rebound from the services sector.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said gross domestic product (GDP) came in line with economists' expectations, growing by 0.3% in its initial estimate for April to June.

It marked a slight improvement on the 0.2% growth seen during the first quarter of the year, but failed to match a reading of 0.7% for the final three months of 2016.

The second quarter performance was underpinned by the services sector, with output expanding by 0.5% between April and June, up from 0.1% for the quarter before.