Co-op suspends two-year products

However despite this decision, the lender's head of mortgages, John Barker, said that the emphasis was still on growing and developing relationships with new and existing borrowers.

Products will be pulled at the close of business today.

Barker said that the Co-operative was now braced for any further increase in demand and fully expects to grow its market share going forward.

He added: "We pride ourselves on our ability to create long-term customer relationships and will not compromise our levels of customer service, by simply chasing business volume at any cost.

"Our commitment to the mortgage market and our customers is underpinned by a strong funding model, which means our mortgages are essentially 100 per cent funded by customer deposits."

Lender withdrawal and a high volume of product repricing across the market were blamed for the surge in demand.