Yorkshire cashes in on banks blow

Public mistrust of banks has been good news for building societies, according to the country's second largest Yorkshire, which saw 324,000 new savings accounts opened in 2012.

"There was a clear increase in people moving across as more and more scandals broke over the summer," its chief executive Chris Pilling said.

Yorkshire saw pre-tax profits rise by 21 per cent to £157m last year while its core tier ratio, the key measure of balance sheet strength, rose from 12.6 per cent to 13.6 per cent.