Speculators made £190 million the two minutes before 9am on Wednesdsay when BBC business editor Robert Peston broke news of takeover talks between Lloyds TSB and HBoS, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Peston told the MoS that information on the takeover was “tightly held”. He said: “If there were big buys before I broadcast, that is quite scary.”

The shares more than doubled in value in the hour following Peston’s scoop.