Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rose to 1.6% last month, up from 1.2% in November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

And higher costs for imported materials and fuels pushed up producer prices.

The fall in the pound since the Brexit vote was starting to feed into the economy, said the BBC's economics editor, Kamal Ahmed.

ONS head of inflation Mike Prestwood said: "This is the highest CPI has been for over two years, though the annual rate remains below the Bank of England's target and low by historical standards.

"Rising air fares and food prices, along with petrol prices falling less than last December, all helped to push up the rate of inflation.

"Rising raw material costs also continued to push up the prices of goods leaving factories."

Inflation means inflation, but who wins?

Separate producer price inflation figures showed that the price of goods bought from factories rose 2.7% in December compared with a year ago, as manufacturers started to pass on the higher input costs they are facing following the fall in the pound.

The prices paid by factories for raw materials and energy jumped by 15.8% over the year, the largest increase since September 2011.

Consumer inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI), which includes housing costs, rose to 2.5% in December from 2.2% the previous month.