The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the UK’s high street banks in an ongoing row concerning overdraft charges.

Seven major banks and a building society had challenged previous court rulings which allowed the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate the ‘fairness’ of the overdraft fees levied on customers.

Today the President of the Supreme Court, Lord Phillips, overturned these earlier rulings after the banks argued that they would receive a ‘deluge of litigation’ if the OFT was allowed to investigate the charges.

All new claims against banks were put on hold in July 2007 while a test case was carried out to determine whether the charges were legal.

The Court’s latest decision will come as a blow to millions of consumers who were hoping to recoup billions of pounds in refunds.

However, Lord Phillips added that the landmark verdict would ‘not close the door on the OFT's investigations’ and may not resolve the ‘myriad cases’ that are currently suspended.