The British public has developed an insatiable, and some suggest an unhealthy, obsession with celebrities over the past few years with a dozen or so tabloids feeding this appetite on a daily basis with a bounty of forest-felling salacious stories.

Yet the move yesterday by major figures in the banking industry to publicly apologise for their part in the near collapse of the banking system may have passed many by, despite banks dominating the non-celebrity news for more than a year now.

The two former chairmen and two ex-chief executives of HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) told MPs on the Treasury Committee yesterday they were “unreservedly sorry” for what had happened (both effectively nationalised now) and that the bonus culture had contributed to the crisis and needed to be reviewed.

Former RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin told MPs on the panel he “could not be more sorry” for what had happened.

For those consumers and investors who did peel their eyes away from the latest gossip on Celebrity Big Brother or I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! are unlikely to have taken too much solace from seeing four banking big wigs apologising profoundly for over exposing their businesses, customers and shareholders.

Afterall apologies don’t bring back house values, lost jobs or investments in the banks themselves.

Lord Stevenson, former chairman of HBOS, said the mistake his bank made was a failure to predict the credit crunch, which in effect froze access to new funds.

According to the BBC, MPs asked why a HBOS group risk manager was sacked in 2007 for raising questions about the levels of risk the bank was taking on.

However, apparently Lord Stevenson would not be drawn on the details of the departure, simply saying that it was the subject of an independent investigation.

The bosses still running of Britain’s leading banks will appear before the Treasury Committee on Wednesday.