Bradford's Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the Bank of England's 'brave' decision to cut half a per cent of interest rates.

It is the seventh cut by the Bank this year and takes the cost of borrowing down to four per cent, the lowest for three decades.

John Pennington, president of the Bradford Chamber, said that although there had been talk of a half-point cut yesterday's decision still came as a surprise.

He said: "Special times need special measures and that's what we're facing just now.

"Businesses have been having a difficult time of things, especially in traditional industries and the export market, so this news is welcome.

"I think the Bank's monetary policy committee was quite brave to take such a bold step, the range of evidence it was receiving was making its decision difficult to predict."

Britain's - and the world's - economy was standing at the edge of recession before the September 11 events and the attacks on America sent international financial confidence and expenditure plummeting.

Economists expect Britain to escape recession but agree it is in line for a slowdown, highlighted by figures this week showing a further slump in the manufacturing and service industries.

The cut in rates follows the US's Federal Reserve's move on Tuesday to take half a per cent off rates.

Mr Pennington said the Bank of England's next step must be to help small businesses battle an economic downturn by removing red tape.

He said: "The Chancellor's tendency to tinker with taxes and benefits, while honourable in principle, means more time and resources devoted to investigating them in the first place, rather than removing the problem at source."