BARCLAYS said it will lend an extra £11bn to UK households and businesses this year.

Chief executive John Varley told shareholders at its annual meeting that the extra funding represented a “significant increase” in the support it already provided to UK customers as other banks reined in lending.

Barclays said the extra £11bn available represented a 6% increase on UK loan balances at the end of 2008. Loan balances grew by 12% to a record £190bn last year.

The bank, which made pre-tax profits of £6.1bn last year, warned that the current recession felt “deep and prolonged.”

Mr Varley said: “It seems likely, with unemployment rising in many parts of the world, that we’re going to be living in difficult times, at least for another year.”