Barclays mortgage complaints fall by a quarter

Of these, 59% were upheld in the customer's favour.

Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) continues to drive complaints figures upwards, rising +12% from H1 to H2, although complaints fell from the previous year. Barclays PPI and General Insurance was the only division out of five to see complaints rise, including investments and pensions.

Barclays received 281,484 complaints in H2 2011, falling to 158,492 without PPI.

As an example, where GI and PPI received 26.19 complaints per 1,000, the mortgage division received 7.35 complaints. Overall, without PPI, Barclays reported 0.94 complaints per 1,000.

A statement said: "Barclays acknowledges that complaint volumes are still too high and we will continue to address complaints at root cause. Barclays is aiming to deliver further significant reductions in the first half of 2012, excluding PPI."

Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclays retail and business banking said: "We can and will do more to improve service and go further and faster to drive down complaints. We are aiming for further significant reductions in underlying complaints in the first half of 2012 as we continue on our journey to get it right first time, every time, for our customers."

The banks said it has introduced a series of changes to combat complaints, including faster servicing times and launching a Barclaycard helpdesk.