Building society customers have no reason to panic as their lenders are set to do very well out of the credit crunch, it has been claimed.

Earlier this month, the BBC reported that five building societies had restricted or stopped new mortgage lending due to an influx of new customers.

However, Neil Johnson, PR and policy manager for the Building Societies Association, sought to allay customers'' fears.

"Just because they''re restricting lending doesn''t mean that they''re struggling," he explained, adding that they were simply trying to maintain their service levels.

"Unlike a lot of their PLC competitors, [building societies] are very successful at getting funding, and that actually puts them in a very good position to continue lending."

Mr Johnson also pointed out that the sub-prime crisis had not damaged building societies to the same extent as banks because of different lending practices.

"Building societies are largely funded by retail deposits rather than wholesale markets. So the problems in the wholesale markets haven''t affected them in the same way that they''ve affected banks," he expanded.

The average proportion of funds raised by building societies from the wholesale markets is 30 per cent, according to BSA research.