By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) - Savers are continuing to profit from the credit crunch, while mortgage borrowers are being hit severely, the latest data shows.

Interest on savings accounts has risen an average 1.2 percent since January last year, despite the Bank of England base rate being the same as it was then, according to price comparison site MoneyExpert.com.

The typical rate on a savings balance of 1,000 pounds has risen to 3.87 from 2.67 percent.

But borrowers are left counting the cost of the liquidity woes that have rattled global financial markets.

The average two-year fixed-rate mortgage has risen 0.62 percent in the past 14 months -- to 6.17 percent from 5.55 percent in January 2007.

Lenders have been pulling cheap deals, cutting the maximum percentage of a property's value they are prepared to lend and refusing more mortgage applications as they perceive greater risk among borrowers.

A third of lenders have reduced the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) they are willing to offer in the past year, hitting first-time buyers the hardest, according to financial data Web site Moneyfacts.co.uk.

"Whereas a year ago mortgages at 95 percent LTV were the most competitive, lenders are taking a much more cautious attitude to risk; now you are most likely to find better deals with a larger deposit, say at 75 percent LTV," says mortgage analyst Julia Harris.