POLICYHOLDERS with the Bradford & Bingley who opted to sell their shares when the building society floats on the London Stock Exchange today will receive payouts of around £620, at the lower end of expectations.

But it still means a welcome pre-Christmas boost for hundreds of people in East Lancashire who will benefit from the free handouts.

Bradford and Bingley took over the old Padiham Building Society in the early '90s and local people who stayed with the society will qualify for either the cash or shares.

They can expect to receive their cheques in around a week.

An auction of the free shares on Friday, through the B&B's Initial Share Sale Facility which the company provided to policyholders, ended with the shares being sold for an average price of 247.86p.

At 250 shares each, this equates to an average payout of nearly £620, although a minority of members who have both mortgage and savings accounts will receive 500 shares each -- meaning they receive £1,240.

It had been hoped policyholders would pick up about £700 each.

Trading in B&B's shares was starting at 8am this morning, with the opening price expected to be around the same 247p level.

Members representing 38.5% of the issued share capital opted to sell their shares and should receive their cheques by December 11.

The Bradford & Bingley, then Britain's second biggest building society, voted in July in favour of floating on the stock market.

In total, 2.7 million members will receive shares, or the windfall if they have decided to cash in before Christmas.