In the wake of the collapse of a deal with the Co-operative to buy the branches, the group anticipates paying £200-300m to arrange an initial public offering in order to float the bank.

Chief executive António Horta-Osório told the Treasury Select Committee that under the deal the cost of separating the branches from the rest of the group would cost Lloyds £300m more than it would have cost the Co-op to purchase them.

However, he attempted to quell questions about whether there was political pressure behind the Co-op deal by telling MPs: “I can assure you that the board and executive committee have always acted on the best interests of shareholders while taking into account the interests of stakeholders and employees.”

And he downplayed suggestions that the offer was over-generous: “It’s very easy to guess football results on Monday.”