Lloyds Bank share sell-off returns further £500m to Treasury

Latest shares sell-off cuts government stake in bank to 23% with nearly half of 20bn bailout now recouped

The government has sold a further tranche of shares in the bailed-out Lloyds Banking Group, reducing the taxpayer's stake to less than 23% and returning 500m to the public purse.

UK Financial Investments, the body that controls the taxpayer stake in the nation's bailed-out banks, has promised to drip-feed Lloyds shares on to the market in the runup to the general election, with the aim of cutting its stake to 20%.