I've just read why the embassy don't accept online bank statements,
Under the provisions of the Data Protection Act the bank cannot divulge any information regarding an account - not even to confirm or deny that an account exists!

also my wife who works for the nhs, showed me a form she had to sign, basically it was about fraud, and saying the nhs would share her employment details to government bodies to prevent and stop fraud.. so will banks be next

what happened to the data protection act