The ECB has reduced the amount of emergency funding available to Greek lenders, a person familiar with the matter said, as capital controls and an agreement between the country’s government and its creditors eased deposit outflows.

In Athens, the homeless are on the streets in growing numbers, soup kitchens feed twice as many people as a year ago, and the poor are rummaging in rubbish bins in search of scrap to sell.

The Bank of England is making preparations to support UK banks in the event of a break-up of the eurozone, deputy governor Charlie Bean confirmed today, describing the present state of the single currency area as a “worrying situation”.