SAVERS are the undoubted winners in the credit crunch, according to research released to coincide with its first anniversary yesterday.

Despite three cuts in official interest rates, average savings rates have risen to record margins above the Bank of England base rate, which is now 5%.

The savings market has ballooned 306% from 490 accounts a year ago to 1,503 today, as providers have jostled to attract deposits and minimise exposure to wholesale money markets, which they had been relying on to raise funding before the credit crunch.

The average best-buy instant-access savings account is now 6.63%, or 1.63 points over Bank rate, compared with 6.27%, or 0.52 points, a year ago, an analysis of the savings market by Cahoot, the savings provider, has shown.

Matthew Timms, managing direct of Cahoot, said: “Few of us will be celebrating the anniversary of the credit crunch but it’s clear that savers have been the winners.”

The average best-buy one-year fixed-rate bond at 7.11% is now 0.48 points higher than the average of 6.63% a year ago, or £168 a year more on a £35,000 balance. The highest-paying bond is ICICI’s at 7.2%. Andrew Hagger of Moneynet, the comparison site, said: “The battle for retail deposits has led to institutions offering some of the highest interest rates seen for over seven years, particularly on fixed-rate savings.”

Cahoot’s instant-access account pays up to 6.55% on balances of £1m. Scarborough building society pays 6.51% on a minimum deposit of £1,000 and Bank of Scotland pays 6.5% on a minimum deposit of £1.