LONDON (AP) — Britons paid off mortgages at the fastest rate in four decades in the last quarter of 2008, the Bank of England said yesterday.

Britons raised their equity in properties by £8 billion ($11.5 billion) in the period, up from £5.9 billion in the previous quarter. The fourth quarter total was the biggest injection of equity since the Bank began keeping records in 1970.

The Bank of England figures measure "housing equity withdrawal," which is the amount by which mortgage lending exceeds the amount of borrowing invested in new houses, home improvements, transfers of houses between sectors, and house moving costs.

Howard Archer, chief European economist at Global Insight, commented that falling interest rates have encouraged many people to use spare cash to pay off debt rather than put it in savings accounts.

"Housing equity withdrawal has been used significantly to support consumer spending in recent years," Archer said.

"Consequently, the sharp turnaround from substantial withdrawals up to and including 2007 to a net injection of equity in the last three quarters of 2008 adds to the already intense downward pressure on consumer spending."