The move follows 11 months of static action at 4.5 per cent.
Barry Naisbitt, chief economist at Abbey, said:
"Today's decision to raise base rates by 0.25% to 4.75% reflected a changing perception within the Monetary Policy Committee about the balance of risks on inflation, coming from new economic data. While the decision to raise rates today was something of a surprise given last month's unanimous vote to hold, it reflects economic news and, presumably, a revised outlook for inflation. We will find out more details of the latter in the Inflation Report next Wednesday. With economic growth again at 0.8% in the second quarter and inflation now at 2.5%, I view the increase as an adjustment rather than the start of a new phase of raising rates."
Mark Blackwell, The Derbyshire's marketing director, added: "Today's move in interest rates may have come as something of a surprise to the financial markets as the Bank of England was widely expected to keep the base rate on hold for another month.
"Most analysts have been anticipating an upward move at some point, but given the 7-0 vote at the previous meeting, the global uncertainty caused by the problems in the Middle East, the heavy oil/energy composition of inflation and the anticipated second half slowdowns in both the UK and US economies, a move upwards was not expected yet.
"Clearly, the MPC felt that the rise in inflation as measured by CPI warranted immediate action. Further upward moves are not anticipated given that the MPC has previously indicated that rates are perceived as near neutral and only needed a minor correction to rates to stay within inflation targets."
