TSB acts against Walker

TSB BANK is presenting a petition for personal bankruptcy against George Walker, the former chairman of Brent Walker, for a sum of more than pounds 9m, writes Rupert Bruce. A hearing is scheduled for 5 August in the bankruptcy court.

Mr Walker was returning from a business trip abroad yesterday and was unavailable for comment.

A spokesman for TSB confirmed the date of the hearing and said the solicitor Theodore Goddard was acting for the bank.

This move comes only a month after TSB repossessed the Walkers' Pall Mall flat, leaving them with houses in Essex and the south of France.

Mr Walker was ousted from his post at Brent Walker more than a year ago after a coup by the main banks. He and his wife, Jean, tried to regain control of the group from their positions as non-executive directors until they resigned before a shareholders' meeting last December.

Mr Walker is still fighting the company for compensation for alleged unfair dismissal and loss of office. Mrs Walker is negotiating an agreed settlement with the board. The Walkers were absent from the sparsely-attended annual shareholders' meeting yesterday, where shareholders asked questions concerning dealings between Brent Walker and Walker family companies before Mr Walker's dismissal.

The Serious Fraud Office is investigating the betting, pubs and property company over pounds 12.5m that went missing from the company in 1989.

The SFO has interviewed Mr Walker twice. He has said that it wished to question him on accounting matters.