HIGH street lender Abbey said its share of the UK mortgage market fell by more than a quarter as borrowers went elsewhere.

Abbey's share of the net lending market, which ignores repayments, fell to 4.4 per cent in the third quarter from 6.1 per cent at the end of the July.

It came as the bank said disruption caused by a planned takeover by Spanish bank Santander Central Hispano (SCH) had restricted its progress in recent months.

In what is likely to be Abbey's last set of results as an independent bank, it told investors that pre-tax profits for the three months to September 30 were running ahead of the first half. The value of net mortgage lending in the quarter slumped to £400m from £1.1bn, while gross lending was up by £100m to £6.4bn.

The trading statement, which did not give profit figures, came days after shareholders in SCH voted to approve the £9bn takeover of Abbey.

The tie-up, which will create the fourth-largest bank in Europe and the eighth-largest in the world, only needs the backing of regulators.

At the time of its interim results in July, Abbey reported short-term disruption from its transformation programme.

It said yesterday: "This has been compounded by the well-publicised distraction and uncertainty resulting from the takeover process, which has restricted progress in recent months."

But a quick conclusion to the deal, which is expected to be completed on November 12, prevented a marked deterioration, the company said.

During the quarter, Abbey's recently-rebranded personal finance services business delivered better results after an improvement in trading income.

Results were also boosted by increased pre-tax profits at the portfolio business unit.