A late surge of PPI claims has hit profits at Swindon-based building society Nationwide, which have fallen by 33 percent for the first half of its financial year.

Increased investment also drove down pre-tax profits to £307m said the mutual, which is not under the same pressure as major banks to deliver greater returns to shareholders and has prioritised its technology investment and expansion into business banking.

Costs rose from £1.10bn to £1.13bn as the company continued to "invest for the future." In some good news, membership numbers rose from 3.4m to 3.5m. "In line with our expectations, our profits were lower as we invested in meeting the needs of our members, in our service and in our future," said chief executive Joe Garner.