The banking sector plunged into a state of chaos this morning with shares nursing double digit losses moments after the opening bell, wiping £40bn off the value of Britain’s biggest lenders.

As investors digested Britain’s decision to withdraw from the EU, the FTSE 350 banks index sank 17pc to 2,846.54. Shares in Barclays plummeted 26.7pc to 137p, making it the biggest faller on the blue chip index.

Lloyds plunged 22.3pc to 56.1p, Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 25.8pc to 186.6p, HSBC lost 4.8pc to 433.1p and Asia-focused Standard Chartered tanked 7.8pc to 535.2p.

Mike van Dulken, of Accendo Markets, said: “Based on the banks having been the best performers over the last week (gains of up to 18pc) we expect the sector to be the worst performer by a considerable margin, given their implied Brexit sensitivity.”