Matt Ridley, the low-profile chairman of Northern Rock, broke his silence yesterday to blame unprecedented market conditions for the bank’s problems and to express solidarity with his beleaguered chief executive Adam Applegarth.

Dr Ridley, a zoologist and author, told The Times: “The board takes full responsibility. We’re not solely blaming the market, but the credit crunch was unprecedented and foreseen by nobody.” He said of Mr Applegarth, “Adam’s the right man to get us through this. He has my absolute backing and there’s not a cigarette paper between him and me.”

Dr Ridley has been on the Northern Rock board for 13 years, the past three as chairman, and has seen it throw off its building society roots and embark on the strategic shift to tap the wholesale money markets for most of its financing.

His father Viscount Ridley was chairman from 1987 to 1992 and sat on the board for 30 years.

Asked whether he had considered resigning, Dr Ridley said: “I serve at the behest of shareholders. If they want me to resign that’s up to them.”

On the subject of whether the directors had taken big pay packages but refused to accept any blame when things went wrong, he said: “I don’t accept there is reward without culpability.”

Dr Ridley was paid £300,000 last year for his part-time role, while Mr Applegarth received £1.3 million. He defended the bank’s record, saying the strategy was always transparent and fully understood by everybody.

Dr Ridley described how the wholesale markets froze on August 9. “That was the moment when markets became impossibly difficult to operate in. We did many many things to ensure we remained liquid until it became impossible to go any further. That’s when we called the Bank of England.”

He said the board’s task now was to gradually rebuild shareholder value. “That means back to business as usual.”

Northern Rock is not so far in talks with any potential bidder.

Times Recommends

• EMI gambles on £400m pact to beat the bank
• Chancellor must find extra £10bn in savings
• Tesco’s secret chain charges customers more