British consumer price inflation slowed to 2.8% in April from 3.3% in March, according to official figures published on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had mostly expected inflation to soften to 3.0%, in large part due to the big increases in utility and other regulated prices in April last year falling out of the annual comparison. Before the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28, the Bank of England said inflation in Britain - the highest among the Group of Seven economies for much of the last four years - was likely to be close to its 2% target in April.