A Bank of England rate-setter voted to hike interest rates this month amid concerns about soaring inflation, it was revealed today.

In a sign of mounting pressure on policymakers to raise the cost of borrowing, monetary policy committee member Tim Besley voted for a 0.25% increase to help "ensure the committee's credibility in light of the current and prospective increase in CPI (consumer price index) inflation".

It was the first vote for a rate hike since July last year. Seven of the committee's members voted to keep rates steady at 5%, with David Blanchflower voting for a rate cut.

The minutes revealed that the committee discussed whether raising interest rates could send "a strong signal" that it was focusing on inflation and remained determined to bring it back to target in the medium term.

At the time of the meeting, inflation was at 3.3%, but later spiked to 3.8%.

There were also a number of arguments for keeping rates steady, the minutes showed. These included more gloomy surveys on economic activity during the month, which made it possible that higher interest rates might not be necessary.

The minutes said: "An increase in base rate in the current circumstances when confidence was low and the financial sector fragile could impart a downward momentum to the economy that risked a significant undershoot of inflation in the medium term.

"Keeping bank rate at 5% when the economy was slowing was arguably already sending a strong signal of the MPC's commitment to reducing inflation."

ING economist James Knightley said today's report reinforced his view that rates will remain on hold for several more months.

He added: "We doubt that rates will be raised given the weak economic backdrop, as highlighted by a new record low in mortgage approvals today, while the plunge in oil prices is also favourable for a lower inflation outlook.

"Consequently, we see rates at 5% until year-end with rates being cut to 3.5% by the third quarter of 2009."

Oxford-educated Mr Besley is also a part-time professor at the London School of Economics alongside his duties on the MPC, which he joined as an external member in September 2006.

He has since gained a reputation as one of the more "hawkish" members of the committee alongside Andrew Sentance, although today is the first time he has voted differently from Dr Sentance.

In his time on the MPC, Professor Besley has voted for nine interest rate hikes, but only four of these were agreed on by the majority of the committee.

While Prof Blanchflower voted for a rate cut, the minutes showed there was no wider discussion about lowering rates.

Prof Blanchflower has consistently voted for interest rate cuts at this year's monthly MPC meetings. He warned in a newspaper interview this week that the country risked at least a year of negative growth unless monetary policy was relaxed.

He presented his arguments to committee members this month. He said activity data had been "uniformly gloomy and broad-based" and activity now seemed likely to contract sharply in the near term.

The minutes recorded: "Long-term inflation expectations remained contained and domestically-generated inflation remained low.

"As a result, there was little or no likelihood of a rise in wage growth. So it continued to be important to look through the short-term spike in inflation."

The committee judged that a rate increase in July would have been "a surprise", given that credit and other financial markets remained fragile.