The Chairman of bailed-out RBS has acknowledged that bankers are overpaid.

Sir Philip Hampton said that salary persists to be 'astonishingly high', but claimed that he had no option but to shell out the going rate for best talent.

He spoke as Barclays' investors yesterday condemned the bank's latest bumper round of bonuses.

It exposed a £1.4billion income and bonus pool for employees at its investment banking 'casino' unit for just three months labor.

The windfall leaves workers at its Barclays Capital wing on course for average take-home pay of more than £240,000 this year.

Sir Philip said, “If we don't pay our top people they leave very quickly. Our top people are very much in demand and we have seen a significant loss of our top people”.

However, he fell short to state that over 100 RBS bankers took home additional benefits in surplus of £1million last year, even though the bank had endured a loss of £3.6billion.

Barclay's Capital led to public anger when Bob Diamond, its American chief, banked £27million last year, after Barclays sold an investment business in which he possessed a substantial interest.