The NatWest Three were said to be "devastated" yesterday after their exile in Houston was extended by at least three more months.

The trial of David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby, who were extradited to the US just over a year ago, had been due to begin on October 22.

It has now been postponed until January because it clashed with a murder trial.

"Gary, Giles and David are devastated by this further delay," Mark Spragg, their British lawyer, said.

"They are emotionally and financially drained yet face another Christmas away from their families, their friends, their homes and their work. Quite simply, this is not justice."

American prosecutors allege that in 2000 the three former bankers advised NatWest to sell part of a company owned by Enron, the collapsed US energy giant, for less than it was worth, and that they then bought a stake in the company which they sold at a significantly higher price to net a $7 million profit.

They have been spared imprisonment while awaiting their trial, but cannot leave Houston and have to wear electronic bracelets around their ankles so the authorities can keep track of them.

They have to observe a curfew, cannot meet except in the presence of a lawyer, and are running up huge legal bills that threaten to bankrupt them. Their families remain in Britain.

The three waged a four-year battle against extradition, arguing that they were British citizens accused of defrauding a British bank - not Enron - and that their ability to defend themselves would be greatly impaired because it would be far harder to obtain key documents or subpoena witnesses from the US.

They claim that has proved to be the case. "The pressure and anxiety caused by their thwarted attempts to get witnesses and evidence from the UK to prove their innocence beggars description," said Mr Sprnatwwest threeagg.

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