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The UK's trade deficit was less than expected in January, thanks to strong exports of cars to the US, China and Russia, official figures have shown.

The deficit on seasonally adjusted trade in goods and services was ?1.8bn in the first month of the year, compared with ?1.2bn in December.

Car exports from the UK in January were worth ?531m more than in December.

The UK's goods trade deficit widened to ?7.5bn in January, while the services surplus narrowed to ?5.8bn.

The goods deficit compares with ?7.2bn in December, while the services surplus in the last month of 2011 was ?6bn.