Steven Crawshaw, Bradford & Bingley's outgoing chief executive, had been under pressure for months. But when the bank's trading figures for April were sent out to the board on May 23, Mr Crawshaw knew he was facing the most difficult challenge of his career.

Barely a week after launching a deeply discounted rights issue - and assuring investors that the bank was trading in line with the previous guidance given at the annual meeting last month - directors were suddenly discovering that the picture had worsened dramatically without anyone at the top realising.