Wages in the UK have declined 6% in just 12 months, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS)

The average weekly wage is now £459.10, down 5.8% year-on year from February 2008 - the largest drop since the ONS began collecting such data in 2001.

Many small business owners have frozen salaries, or even cut pay in an attempt to combat the economic downturn and as an alternative to making redundancies.

The figures also revealed that the financial sector was the worst hit, with bonuses more than halved from £1,312 a week to £549.

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