According to a study by MoneyFacts.co.uk, last month's interest rate cut from the Bank of England led some mortgage deals to be withdrawn in just six days.

Darren Cook, of MoneyFacts, said: “Banks and building societies are being forced into these measures due to current market uncertainty. As a consequence, they are reducing the level of funds on offer - even though demand hasn't reduced.

“Lenders with products available are experiencing unprecedented levels of demand, which impinge on their backroom staff's ability to cope and on the company's capacity to provide a good level of service.

“To avoid this, lenders are choosing to withdraw their products quicker than before to clear their demand bottlenecks.”

In May 2007 there was an estimated 15,000 mortgage products available to would-be homebuyers. This has now dropped to just 3814 products available.

Figures released by the British Bankers' Association reveal that mortgage approvals fell to the second lowest level ever recorded during April. The BBA say 38,704 mortgages were issued in April - a slight increase on the 35,546 deals in March.