The Bank of England mulled slashing British interest rates even more sharply in November, before it cut borrowing costs by 150 basis points to a 53-year low, minutes from the meeting showed Wednesday.

The central bank`s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee voted 9-0 to slash rates by a third to 3.00 percent earlier this month amid the spreading global financial crisis, the minutes revealed.

`The minutes of the MPC meeting show that the Committee voted unanimously for the 150-basis-point rate cut, as expected, and considered a larger cut,` said Barclays Capital analyst Simon Hayes.

`Further significant rate cuts appear to be in the pipeline.`

The Bank of England (BoE) on November 6 slashed its key lending rate from 4.5 percent to the lowest level in more than half a century, a sign according to economists of a deep recession ahead for Britain.

The central bank`s huge rate cut had taken markets totally by surprise and left borrowing costs at their lowest level since 1955.

Last week the BoE said in its latest quarterly Inflation Report that Britain risked deflation -- a prolonged period of falling prices -- in late 2009 should interest rates remain at the current rate of 3.0 percent.

The British central bank`s main task is to keep inflation at the government-set target of 2.0 percent.

`The projections in the Inflation Report implied that a very significant reduction in Bank Rate -- possibly in excess of 200 basis points -- might be required in order to meet the inflation target in the medium term,` said the minutes of November`s meeting.

However, policymakers argued that a smaller rate cut was needed because a 200 basis point rate cut would have shocked financial markets that had already been severely shaken by the global credit crunch.

`A key concern was the degree of surprise to financial markets,` the minutes said.

`There was a risk that such a move might be misinterpreted as a change in the Committee`s reaction function, which would damage the credibility of the inflation target.`

The bank also said that its nine policymakers `judged that an immediate reduction in Bank Rate of 1.5 percentage points to three percent was necessary to meet the two-percent target for inflation in the medium term.`

British inflation came off a 16-year high to 4.5 percent in October as the cost of oil fell sharply, official data had showed on Tuesday.

With inflation set to tumble even further in coming months, analysts said Britain risked deflation, as well as historically-low interest rates in 2009.

Capital Economics analyst Jonathan Loynes said on Wednesday: `We see nothing to stand in the way of another big rate cut of perhaps 100 basis points at December`s meeting and still see rates getting to 1.0-percent or below next year.`

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) annual inflation rate -- the government`s target measure -- dropped in October from a 16-year high of 5.2 percent in September, the Office for National Statistics had said on Tuesday.

The BoE had last week said the British economy was probably already in recession.

Recent official data showed that the economy is on the verge of a recession after contracting for the first time since 1992 in the three months to September by 0.5 percent.

A subsequent and widely expected further contraction in the fourth quarter will put the economy technically into recession.

The minutes also indicated that the MPC would await the British government`s pre-budget report, due next Monday, before deciding how much further to cut interest rates. The pre-budget is a precursor to the annual budget due in early 2009.