Protest at move to repay lost cash

Monday 4th January 2010, 10:34AM GMT.

Shirehall top About a quarter of voters in Iceland signed a petition against a bill to repay £3.4 billion lost by savers in Britain and the Netherlands when the country’s banking system collapsed.

The money would reimburse the UK and Dutch governments which stepped in to compensate depositers with the Icesave scheme, after its parent firm Landsbanki failed last year.

Shropshire Council, formed by the merger of the county’s district councils, said it was hoping to recover about £950,000 of the £1 million invested by the former Bridgnorth District Council. Powys County Council hopes to recoup most of its £4 million.

About 298,000 British savers had their accounts in the bank frozen. Most have since been repaid.

Last week Iceland’s MPs backed the amended bill to reimburse Britain and the Netherlands by 33 votes to 30. But more than 56,000 people, about 23 per cent of the country’s voters, signed the petition demanding a referendum on the issue.

The number of mortgages approved has more than doubled over the past year, figures showed today. A total of 60,518 loans for were in the pipeline in November, the highest since March 2008 and more than double the record low of 27,162 in November 2008.

View more: Shropshire Council news.