And that corresponds with a one point fall in the number of so-called "nones" -- those who describe themselves as having no religion -- from 49 per cent to 48 per cent.

The variations in the last year are too small to be regarded as statistically significant in themselves but will some offer comfort to those praying for an end to the seemingly relentless decline in Christianity.

Perhaps most strikingly, there was three-point fall in the number of adults under 25 identifying themselves as non-believers.

But religious belief is very much a minority view among younger people, with 62 per cent describing themselves as non-believers, down from 65 per cent a year earlier.

"No religion" became the biggest faith group in the survey seven years ago, when it reached 51 per cent of respondents but has since drifted lower.

The proportion describing themselves as Christian now stands at the same level as it was seven years ago.

But experts on religious trends warned that the levelling off could just be the "pause at the edge of the cliff" before the oldest, most devoutly religious generation dies.

While non-believers outnumber the religious two to one among young people the proportions are almost exactly the opposite among pensioners.

And younger pensioners -- a group which now includes members of the baby-boom generation -- are more than 40 per cent more likely to be non-religious than those over 75.

Ian Simpson, Senior Researcher at NatCen Social Research, which carries out the BSA survey, said the findings did indicate at least a temporarily "halt" in the decline of religion in Britain.

"The proportion of people saying they have no religion peaked at 51 per cent in 2009 and has plateaued since then," he said.

"It appears that the steady decline of religion in Britain has come to a halt, at least for now.

"This is partly due to a stabilisation in the proportion of people describing themselves as a Christian of some kind, since 2009.

"However, this also appears to mask a small increase in the number of those with a non-Christian religion offsetting a small decrease in the number of Anglicans".

The biggest change within the different religious groups in recent years has been a drop in the numbers of people identifying themselves as Church of England or Anglican, from 22 per cent in 2006 to 17 per cent when the most recent data were collected last year.

Experts believe many people who even recently would have ticked Church of England on surveys almost unthinkingly have steadily migrated into the non-religious category, often without noticing.

Prof Linda Woodhead, one of Britain's leading experts on the sociology of religion, who recently co-authored the book "That was the Church that was" charting the decline of the Church of England, said the long-term trajectory is still downward.

"The decline of religion particularly Christianity and the rise of no religion has always been a very slow, long-term process," she said.

"It probably goes back a century, although we don't have the data.

"We shouldn't be looking to see a collapse in numbers in a few years, we have got to look at the long-term picture.

"But I can't imagine any factor that would lead this long-term trend to change.

"If you look at the things that really matter to people -- what they do with their babies, how they get married and how they deal with their dead -- the rise of non-religious funerals, civil weddings and non-church baby-namings is very steady as well."

She suggested that the pattern could most clearly be seen by analysing the Anglican and "no religion" categories together.

A decade ago Anglicans still accounted for a third of the combined share of the two groups but now only constitute a quarter.

"The move from CofE to nones continues," said Prof Woodhead.

Dr Abby Day, a sociologist and expert on religion in society at Goldsmiths, University of London, argued that the churches, particularly the Church of England are facing a "demographic time bomb" because of their heavy reliance on the oldest generation.

"There is a huge difference between the pre-war and baby-boomer generations," she said.

"I think this could be the pause at the edge of the cliff.

END