The Government plans to sell off a further £25 billion of Royal Bank of Scotland shares as it accelerates its programme to dispose of taxpayer stakes in high street banks.

It intends to sell this chunk of shares over the course of this Parliament, which ends in 2020, and plans to sell a further £5.8 billion of RBS shares in 2020-21, according to the details of Chancellor George Osborne's Autumn Statement.

It said: "The Government is committed to returning the financial sector assets acquired in 2008-09 to the private sector.

"As there is no longer a policy need for the Government to hold these assets, it will seek to dispose of them, reducing public sector net debt while maximising value for taxpayers."

The move comes after the Chancellor fired the starting gun on returning Royal Bank of Scotland into private hands in August with a £2.1 billion share sale, but faced criticism that the taxpayer has been left short-changed after making a £1 billion loss.

The Government also reiterated its plans to sell around £2 billion worth of shares in Lloyds Banking Group to retail investors next spring, backed by a nationwide TV, print and digital campaign.

Mr Osborne's statement added that it also expects to sell a total of £7.5 billion of Bradford & Bingley assets during this Parliament.

Earlier this month the Treasury sold £13 billion of Northern Rock mortgages, formally thought of as a bad risk, to US investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, in what is described as the largest ever financial asset sale by a European government.

Government watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility said the Chancellor has to date recovered almost £70 billion from sales of its financial sector holdings acquired during the financial crisis.