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Data produced by Mortgage Brain for Mortgage Adviser revealed that Mortgages Plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch, had just 8.5 per cent of the number of mortgages it had available at the same time last year.

Preferred Mortgages has the largest percentage of products axed after withdrawing its entire mortgage range last month, according to Mortgage Brain.

Mortgages Plc announced on Monday that it had withdrawn all its fixed rate products as well as pulling all self-cert and right-to-buy deals. This has reduced the number of products available to 110 compared with 1293 in March last year.

The latest move cut more than half of the products sourceable, which totalled 265 in mid-January and 876 in mid-October. Mortgages Plc now offers just residential tracker and discount products in near prime, near prime plus and super light ranges.

The company has also reduced its maximum loan-to-value on all products to 70 per cent, reduced the maximum loan size to £300,000 and raised the rates on remaining products by 1 per cent.

The development came just days after Mortgages Plc pulled its prime buy-to-let range on 26 March.

It followed a spate of mortgage lenders pulling mortgage products in the last few weeks including Stroud & Swindon, Coventry Building Society, Alliance & Leicester and Chelsea Building Society.

Polly Hughes, head of marketing for Mortgages Plc, said the move had been made in an effort to control new business volumes.

She said: "This is a case of monitoring the market and moving in line with what other lenders are doing. At this time we just do not want to be the most competitive.

"In common with a number of other lenders, we have recently experienced a rapid increase in new business enquiries. We therefore have no option but to adjust our criteria and pricing to keep control of business levels."

Ms Hughes said there was "no firm date" of when the lender would re-enter the fixed rate market.

Paul White, a consultant for London-based IFA Belgravia Insurance Consultants, said: "I am not unduly worried as there were too many products in the market so it does not make a lot of difference to me.

"What does concern me is the number of products that are being introduced and then dropped a week later."