The number of construction contracts awarded in September reached a total value of £5.6 billion – its highest figure since January.

The figure was revealed in Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, compiled by Barbour ABI and published as the latest Economic & Construction Market Review.

They reveal that the total value of new contracts awarded in September increased by 5.8 per cent from the month before, with values 11.7 per cent higher than September 2013.

Residential contracts accounted for 24%, with infrastructure contracts claiming 23%, commercial & retail contracts at 22% and education contracts taking 14%.

"Today’s figures will give a huge boost to the construction industry, particularly those in the education sector, which is celebrating its highest level of new contracts awarded in two years," Michael Dall, lead economist at Barbour ABI, said.

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Adding: "Over recent months, it has become clear that the industry cannot only rely on the residential sector to instigate long-term growth – other key sectors such as commercial and infrastructure need to improve to make the recovery more resilient.

"While infrastructure is still performing poorly compared to pre-recession levels, today’s report appears to indicate a widening of construction activity with growth more evenly spread. With recent forecasts from the Construction Products Association also predicting 23 per cent growth by the end of 2018, this positive news looks set to continue."

The report also showed that London and Scotland were the hotspots for the value of construction contracts awarded in September, accounting for 24 per cent and 21 per cent of the UK total respectively. This was largely down to a handful of big ticket projects including Phase 2 of the £600 million Battersea Power Station contract, a new bypass to the west of Aberdeen worth £400 million and a £300 million on-shore wind farm based in the Highlands.