A YORK bank manager has welcomed news that Swedish banking group Handelsbanken has been rated top for customer satisfaction for the sixth year running in an independent survey of British banks.

Chris Ibbotson, manager of Handelsbanken in York Business Park, said: "Relationship banking still lives up to its name here at Handelsbanken, decisions are made locally and we provide simply the best levels of customer service.

"I am delighted that the latest EPSI results once more confirm this is the case."

Handelsbanken also published its latest third quarter financial results, revealing that UK household lending rose by 24 per cent to £4.1 billion the last 12 months.

It also extended net lending to UK businesses by a further 7 per cent, to £9.1 billion in total.

The Swedish-headquartered bank operates more than 820 branches in 24 countries worldwide, and in the last six years has announced 120 new British branches, bringing the total to 179 in the UK, including York's branch which has a team of six bankers.