The crossroads of George St and Wellesley Rd in Croydon, south London, is a somewhat sorry sight.

On one arm of the junction there is a branch of Northern Rock, where savers queued around the corner last September to withdraw savings in the lead-up to the lender’s collapse. The local HBOS, which was sold to Lloyds TSB in a rescue deal this month, sits on the opposite side. And then there is a branch of Bradford & Bingley, which was nationalised on Monday as it struggled with a £42bn loan book of risky mortgages.