HOPES of a recovery in the UK manufacturing sector were fuelled yesterday by a survey showing improved order books and a revival of output growth.

But the Confederation of British Industry, publishing the survey, warned Brexit posed risks to demand and highlighted “escalating global trade tensions”.

Subtracting the proportion saying total order books were worse than usual from that declaring they were better, a net 13 per cent of UK manufacturers reported they were above-normal.

This was a significant improvement on the balance of 3% declaring total order books were below-normal in last month’s industrial trends survey from the CBI.

A balance of 29% of UK manufacturers, surveyed between May 25 and June 13, reported a rise in output volumes in the past three months. This signalled a sharp pick-up in growth of output volumes.

In the previous survey published in May, only a net 3% had reported an increase in output volumes over the past three months.

Fears over the state of the UK economy intensified last week when official data revealed the sharpest monthly drop in manufacturing output since October 2012.

UK manufacturing output plummeted by 1.4 per cent month-on-month in April, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. Economists had forecast a 0.3% increase.

While warning of risks to demand from Brexit and rising global trade tensions, CBI head of economic intelligence Anna Leach said: “The recovery in orders and a return to bumper growth in production suggests the lull in manufacturing activity may be over.”

Tom Crotty, group director of Ineos and chair of the CBI’s manufacturing council, said: “Improvements in order books and strong output growth are good news for UK manufacturers, particularly after the slowdown that we had seen since the beginning of the year.

“But uncertainty remains elevated, from both Brexit and anti-global trade rhetoric.”