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UK banks are set to make £20.5 million in interest after all outstanding claims over disputed overdraft fees were suspended until the new year, research has claimed.

But banking groups have slammed the statistics, from price comparison website uSwitch, as "dangerous and potentially misleading".

According to uSwitch, a test case launched jointly by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman aimed at clarifying the legality of bank charges will see £713 million worth of claims put on hold.

The British Bankers' Association (BBA) however has accused the website's research of containing "fatal flaws" after extrapolating an online survey.

"These figures read as if they were totted up on the back of a fag packet. They are misleading and to portray the industry in this way is totally wrong," commented BBA chief executive Angela Knight.

"We have had enough of these specious surveys from uSwitch which extrapolate unsupportable conclusions from undisclosed data. We can only assume that this is simply a craven PR pitch to boost their business, and it is as unfair to customers and litigants as it is to the banks."

The trade association's director of statistics David Dooks added: "This is what gives statistics a bad name."

In response to these grievances, uSwitch counter-claimed that it "strongly objects" to the BBA's complaints.

A statement insisted that it was an "impartial and independent organisation not funded by the banking sector".