Three of Britain's biggest lenders have suggested that "bad debt" is increasing, after revealing an update of its financial results.

Figures from the three banks, Lloyds, Barclays and RBS, found that more borrowers are having difficulties in paying back their loans .

Shares in the Lloyds Banking Group fell significantly on the FTSE 100 last week, after the bank stated that the number of loan write-offs would increase by 50 per cent, due to the increasing number of borrowers who are unable to pay off their debts during 2009.

On a more optimistic note, Eric Daniels, the chief executive at Lloyds, said: "In extremely challenging market and economic conditions, the Group has made good progress in its first few months."

Barclays also revealed a 79 per cent increase in the impairment charges on debts over the first quarter of 2009.

John Varley at Barclays said: "We generated strong income growth across most business lines driven by the investments we have made in expanding our international network and in buying Lehman. This, together with good cost control, has enabled us to shield the anticipated increase in impairment and absorb further credit market write-down's on legacy assets."

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) also reported a loss of £857 million after writing down £4.9 billion failed investments and loans.

Stephen Hester, the chief executive of RBS, said: "Our core customer franchises are facing the reality of a sharp recession, following a year in which the credit markets crisis caused our worst-ever performance."