Shares in British banks were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after Lloyds Banking Group reported a first quarter loss.

The part nationalised bank swung from a pre-tax profit of £721 million in the first quarter last year to a pre-tax loss of £3.4 billion. The bank was hit by a £3.2 billion provision for Payment Protection Insurance.

In addition the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is due to give its latest decision on interest rates. Yet again the MPC is predicted to keep rates at the record low of 0.5 per cent.

By 10:05 shares in Lloyds Banking Group were down 8.08 per cent to 53.33 pence per share, RBS shares dropped 3.21 per cent to 40.36 pence per share, Barclays shares declined 1.11 per cent to 280.65 pence per share and HSBC shares fell 0.88 per cent to 646.10 pence per share.

Overall the FTSE 100 was down 0.07 per cent to 5,979.97.

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