The Royal Bank of Scotland has set aside another £2bn to cover past mistakes.

The taxpayer-backed lender has earmarked £1.5bn to cover expected legal action linked to US mortgage dealings.

It has also set aside an extra £500m for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling compensation.

RBS added that it also plans to pump another £4.2bn into its pension scheme.

Ross McEwan, chief executive of RBS, said: "I am determined to put the issues of the past behind us and make sure RBS is a stronger, safer bank.

"We will now continue to move further and faster in 2016 to clean up the bank and improve our core businesses."

Mr McEwan confirmed the bank is set to report another loss for 2015, with the latest provisions and write-downs adding to the impact of wider restructuring at the bank.

The bank will officially have remained in the red for eight years running when it reports its 2015 results on February 26.

While the pension fund payment will largely come from reserves, the remaining £2.5bn in provisions and write-downs will hit its bottom line.