* Bank of England holds interest rates, as expected
* Some rate setters could vote for hike soon
* New MPC members complicate outlook for rates (Adds economist comment, market reaction)
By Andy Bruce
LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - The Bank of England held interest rates at record lows on Thursday but the pace of Britain's recovery looks likely to divide its policymakers soon over when to start weaning the economy off its support.
The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept its benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent, its level since the worst of the financial crisis more than five years ago, and made no statement.
With little sign of a slowing in Britain's surprisingly strong bounce-back from a long period of stagnation after the crisis, some BoE policymakers are expected to begin casting votes in the coming months for a first rate hike since 2007.
The BoE is broadly expected to raise rates either at the end of this year or in early 2015, probably before the U.S. Federal Reserve which on Wednesday detailed how it plans to make its own exit from the era of ultra-loose monetary policy.
There was little market reaction.
"However we suspect that this will be the last MPC meeting over which markets will remain so relaxed," said Philip Shaw, economist at Investec.
"August will herald the publication of the BoE's Quarterly Inflation Report and an updated set of forecasts, which might well act as a catalyst for the more hawkish members of the committee to contemplate voting for a tightening."
Sterling hit a nearly six-year high against a basket of currencies last week, with major retail groups like Burberry and Associated British Foods on Thursday citing strains caused by a strong pound.
Still, surveys last week have shown British businesses in rude health overall and house prices are still rising rapidly, even if there are some signs that the heat in the property market is cooling.
STILL A LONG WAY TO GO
But there have also been reminders that the economy is a long way from putting itself on the kind of footing that would support growth over the long term.
Data earlier on Thursday showed Britain's goods trade deficit with the rest of the world widened unexpectedly, underlining how exports have failed to pick up as hoped for by the BoE and the government.
And wage growth is still weak, suggesting the economy can grow further without risking a pick-up in inflation.
"Although this is getting less predictable, we do not think the data between June and July will have been enough to induce MPC hawks to vote for a rate rise just yet," said Liz Martins, an economist at HSBC.