UK tax officials are investigating allegations that clients of Lloyds Banking Group are being encouraged to avoid UK taxes by channelling money through China, according to a television documentary.

The British Broadcasting Corporation alleges that an employee at the Jersey branch of the bank was secretly filmed - as part of a Panorama investigation - giving the advice to a man posing as a client with £4 million ($6.5 million) to invest.

Lloyds, which received a £17 billion government bailout last year, denied any wrongdoing and told BBC that it would not comment on the actions of an individual employee, media reports said.

WealthBriefing was unable to immediately reach the BBC, Lloyds or HM Revenue & Customs for a comment at  the time of publication.

The story comes as tax authorities in the UK, US, Germany and other countries have been mounting an increasingly aggressive campaign to root out offshore tax evaders. In their defence, international financial centres say they are being unfairly blamed for financial problems developed by the countries such as the US themselves.

During the filming, the Lloyds TSB Offshore employee allegedly told the undercover customer that income earned on deposits made in the tax haven is paid to clients via Hong Kong to "get round" the European Savings Tax Directive, reports said.

If that investment or interest income was paid directly from Jersey, then the recipient would be liable to pay the EU savings tax.

A report in the Daily Telegraph said the HMRC is to investigate the incident after being handed footage of the programme by the BBC.