In addition to this, the NAO also report that the public lost a further £480m in the sale of Northern Rock PLC to Virgin Money last year.

Northern Rock was rescued by the government in 2008 as the financial crisis really started. The bank was then split in half: the “toxic debts” were placed with Northern Rock Asset Management (NRAM), while Northern Rock PLC became the bank’s mortgage lending and savings arm.

The NAO said that it might be years before the assets of NRAM were wound down, but that they expected a final loss to taxpayers of £2bn.

However, the NAO also says, "This net present cost should, however, be seen as part of the overall cost of securing the benefits of financial stability during the financial crisis."

It’s a view that the group’s head, Amyas Morse agrees with: "A sale of Northern Rock PLC at the earliest opportunity was the best option to minimise losses on the £1.4bn of public money invested in the bank."

Elsewhere in financial news, the European markets have had a bad start to the day, with Spain’s main share index dropping by 2%.

European losses followed steep falls in Asian markets, while the Dow Jones in New York fell by 1.2%.

Frances Cheung of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said, "There is no resolution to the [European] problem yet, and we also we had very disappointing US data, so overall, it's negative and further denting market sentiment.”