The UK's infrastructure sector has slipped into its first quarterly decline since 2013 due to a drop in railways workloads, according to new figures.

The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA)'s Workload Trends Survey for 2017 Q4 reveals for the first time in five years 4% of British firms, on balance, reported a fall in workloads.

Five out of 10 sectors have reported falling workloads, on balance, with railways recording the weakest balance (-32%). Order books decreased for 10% of firms, on balance.

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CECA Director of External Affairs Marie-Claude Hemming described the figures as "disappointing".

"These disappointing figures show that more must be done to unlock planned infrastructure investment and bring schemes to market," she said.

"CECA calls on Government to do more, by committing to projects outlined in the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan, and to continue to develop projects to add to this pipeline to secure the future of the UK economy.

"Our hopes are that the decline in workloads during 2017 Q4 are representative of a pause in activity, rather than a sign of broader decline.

"Nonetheless these statistics reinforce our concern that rail activity is far below where we might have expected it to be at this stage of the investment cycle."

(LM/MH)