Gambling firms could be blacklisted by Co-Op

Co-Operative bank may add gambling companies to its lending blacklist to help repair its reputation after a spate of recent scandals.

The bank will consult it's 4.7 million customers in a month-long poll to decide which firms it won't lend to.

Gambling companies will face the axe alongside tax dodgers and firms that carry out illegal surveillance.

The bank’s reputation has suffered this year as its chair Paul Flowers was charged with drug offences and the overall group's former chief executive Euan Sutherland quit after just ten months in the role, declaring the members-owned co-operative to be "ungovernable".

The bank also suffered losses of £2.5bn in 2013 and was rescued by a cash injection from an American hedge fund, leaving the Co-Op Group owning just 20% of the business.

New chief executive Niall Booker raised concerns the hedge fund’s fingerprints would undermine consumer confidence in the Co-Op brand.

He said he hoped the bank would continue to be set apart by its commitment to values and ethics.