CHANCELLOR George Osborne has been urged to restore Bradford & Bingley as a viable business as part of his plans for a Northern Powerhouse.

The call comes nearly eight years after the part nationalisation and break-up of the bank and former building society at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

David Blundell, chairman of the Bradford & Bingley Action Group, which continues to campaign on behalf of nearly one million former B&B shareholders, has written to the Chancellor urging him to bring B&B back to life.

In 2008 B&B's mortgage business was nationalised and now operates within the Government-owned UK Asset Resolution business based at the former B&B HQ at Crossflatts.

UKAR is running down the B&B mortgage book and has sold on some assets to other finance companies but does not undertake new lending.

Bradford & Bingley's savings business and branch network was bought by Spanish-owned bank Santander and the brand disappeared from the high street.

In his letter to the Chancellor, David Blundell states: " In the past you have spoken eloquently of your ambition to develop a Northern Powerhouse. Restoring B&B as a viable business would be a major step forward in achieving this goal whilst increasing competition in the banking sector and ensuring Bingley would again become the thriving and prosperous community it once was."

The letter is the latest attempt by BBAG to extract information from the Government about why the decision to break up B&B was taken - resulting in shares and bonds becoming worthless.

Mr Blundell says that, in spite of thousands of Freedom of Information requests by campaigners, successive governments have failed to provide requested information

due to "obfuscation and subterfuge".

He says the nil valuation of B&B by the independent valuer Peter Clokey resulted from flawed terms of reference and that Mr Clokey had stated that different terms of reference could have resulted in a more positive valuation.

Informed sources had confirmed to BBAG following the nationalisation that there would be a substantial surplus when B&B was finally wound down and the group understands that the current estimated surplus is well over £20 billion.

Mr Blundell says the B&B nationalisation was a flawed decision, made in haste and neither equitable nor consistent with the support given to other banks with far weaker balance sheets.

Nearly one million B&B shareholders were were entitled to a duty of care from the UK government and other agencies who could be guilty of gross misfeasance once all the facts are known.