Bank lending to house buyers rose again in October but savings increased by even more as people are doing what they can to shore up their finances, according to latest data from Britain's banks.

British Bankers’ Association statistics director, David Dooks, said: 'The longer it takes to emerge from recession, the longer we will see households and businesses continue to borrow with caution.'

He said that while banks’ mortgage lending is still growing, remoprtggaes and unsecured borrowing remains subdued and people are building up their deposits.

The data showed another £3.1 billion was handed out to people buying houses in October, while remortgages were 62% lower than a year ago.

Personal savings in the month increased £3.2 billion bringing the total saved in UK banks to  £591.1 billion.

And consumer borrowing fell another £100 million, down 1.6% on last year. The total now outstanding is £91.5 billion.

New spending on credit cards was down 8.2 % compared to a year ago and the BBA said demand for personal loans is particularly weak with balances down by £2.9 billion in the first three quarters of 2009.