mortgage lending looks set to continue steaming ahead, with a record number of new loans approved during October.

The British Bankers' Association said a total of 270,500 mortgages were approved by the major banks during the month, collectively worth £19.6bn.

This is 23 per cent higher in value and 10 per cent higher in number than approvals during October 2002, as Britons' appetite for debt showed no sign of slowing down.

At the same time total mortgage advances also reached a new high of £17.81bn during the month, while net lending, which strips out redemptions and repayments, reached a record £5.86bn.

Loans worth a total of £9.89bn were approved for house purchase, averaging £109,000 each, while approvals for remortgaging accounted for £7.55bn of the total.

The value of equity release mortgages, in which people cash in on money locked up in their property to fund big purchases such as cars, also reached a new high of £2.17bn.

David Dooks, BBA director of statistics, said: "This data shows no signs of the mortgage market slowing down, as gross and net lending figures peaked again.

"And this strong lending growth is likely to be maintained in coming months, as record numbers of approvals granted in October progress to completion."