Bradford & Bingley members have been advised to hand themselves a Christmas bonus by selling their windfall share packages.

Those receiving the 250-share pay-outs, which are thought to be worth between £647 and £814, had until Friday to decide what they would do with them.

They faced the option of selling the shares before the society floated on December 4 or holding on to them and taking a chance on the Stock Exchange.

The building society mailed packs to its 2.7 million members around six weeks ago and the last count showed 2.5 million members had returned their forms.

While B&B kept mum on its members' decisions, Jeremy Batstone, head of research at NatWest Stockbrokers, urged them: "Sell them and get the cheque before Christmas."

He said he remained "somewhat uncertain" of B&B's future in the competitive marketplace and added "B&B is too small to make much of an impact".