Company finances are facing the most severe squeeze in almost 30 years, Bank of England figures showed on Monday, as deposits in banks are falling fast and businesses struggle to raise new funds.

In October, deposits at banks and building societies by non-financial companies fell 5.2 per cent, the fastest rate since 1980. In the same month, the annual growth in lending to non-financial companies fell to 6.5 per cent, down from 17.9 per cent a year earlier.