* BoE defies expectations of rate cut
* Bank signals stimulus move likely in August
* One member of the MPC - Jan Vlieghe - voted for a cut
* Bank to consider implications of stimulus on banks
* Economists speculate about new fiscal plan (Adds economist on possible fiscal approach to boosting growth)
By William Schomberg and David Milliken
LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - The Bank of England wrong-footed investors by keeping interest rates on hold on Thursday, but held out the prospect of a stimulus package soon to help the economy cope with Britain's decision to leave the European Union.
The battered pound surged by more than 2 percent as the central bank held its Bank Rate at 0.50 percent, contrary to widespread expectations of a first cut in more than seven years.
Governor Mark Carney said two weeks ago that he expected the BoE to give the economy more help over the summer.
But Carney and his fellow rate-setters said on Thursday they would wait three more weeks to see the intensity of the Brexit hit to the economy before deciding on the need for any stimulus.
"In the absence of a further worsening in the trade-off between supporting growth and returning inflation to target on a sustainable basis, most members of the committee expect monetary policy to be loosened in August," minutes of the meeting said.
"The precise size and nature of any stimulatory measures will be determined" in August, it said.
Only one of the Monetary Policy Committee's nine rate-setters - Jan Vlieghe, who has previously floated the idea of more help for the economy - voted for a cut at the July meeting.
The BoE has held its Bank Rate at 0.5 percent since March 2009, when the global financial crisis was hammering Britain. Investors have spent much of the past three years speculating about when borrowing costs would rise as the economy picked up.
Now the question investors and businesses are asking is whether Britain can avoid falling back into recession.
Some economists said the BoE might consider joining forces with the new government to use public spending as a way to boost growth, something opposed by former finance minister George Osborne who stepped down on Wednesday.
"What chance the government finances investment projects using infrastructure bonds which the BoE ultimately buys?" David Owen, an economist with Jefferies, said in an email to clients.
Carney met new finance minister Philip Hammond on Thursday, shortly after Hammond said the government would do whatever was necessary to restore confidence in the economy.
Victoria Clarke, an economist at Investec, said it was possible the BoE and the government were preparing a coordinated package which could be announced in August. "Whatever we are to conclude, today's MPC minutes are certainly prepping markets for much more than just a Bank rate cut on Aug. 4," she said.