A BANK owned by trade unions has helped to bail out Labour with a £4m loan, raising fears that the party is becoming too dependent on the movement’s barons.

The Unity Trust Bank, whose loan to the party is listed in Electoral Commission documents, has seven union leaders on its board of directors and is 73% owned by unions. It is a subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank, which has itself lent Labour £9.5m.

The £4m loan is in addition to union cash donations to Labour, which amount to three-quarters of all money given to the party.

The Unity bank’s directors include left-wing leaders such as Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, and Dave Prentis, head of Unison, the biggest public sector union.

Labour, which is struggling to cover £22m of debts, has found it increasingly difficult to attract private lenders and donors since Scotland Yard opened an investigation into the “loans for peerages” scandal earlier this year.

The controversy has made the party increasingly dependent on its old paymasters in the TUC, leading to concerns that it may not be able to resist pressure to shape policy according to their wishes.

The unions represented among the directors are pursuing a number of campaigns, including a halt to the use of the private sector in healthcare provision, better pension terms for local government workers and stronger union rights.

They have already publicly recognised their belief that Labour should listen closely to them with demands for Tony Blair to be replaced.

Labour said last week that £2m of the loan had been repaid to Unity Trust Bank, along with £4m to the Co-operative Bank.

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