The former chairman of Bradford & Bingley has said today the bank's board is "massively sorry" about the events that led to its collapse.

Rod Kent told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee this morning that the board was "deeply disappointed and massively sorry" about the string of mishaps surrounding the nationalisation of the bank in September.

"The board accepts it is fully accountable for what happened," Mr Kent said: "We are deeply disappointed and massivley sorry about what happened."

However, Mr Kent defended the decision to pay bonuses to management in 2007, saying that the move was justified.

Richard Pym, whose role was expanded from chief executive to executive chairman when Mr Kent stepped down with other directors last week, also appeared before MPs today.

He said the bank's workforce has fallen from 3,100 at the end of August to 1,100. He said total arrears were over 3 per cent at end of September, up from 2.48 per cent at the end of June.

The Government nationalised the bulk of Bradford & Bingley on September 29, seizing £50 billion of assets and guaranteeing the deposit protection lifeboat to ensure 2.6 million depositors would not lose out.

The bank had struggled for months as its exposure to the buy-to-let sector and its reliance on capital from the money markets left it particularly vulnerable to the credit crunch and the financial crisis that followed.

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