BARCLAYS chairman Sir David Walker paid tribute to former chief executive Bob Diamond's "immense contribution" to the bank as shareholders at its annual meeting lambasted the institution for paying top staff too much.

Sir David and new chief executive Antony Jenkins are seeking to turn around Barclays following the departure of Mr Diamond and ex-chairman Marcus Aguis last summer after the bank was fined £290 million for fixing key interest rates.

"The contribution Bob Diamond made to this bank was immense," Sir David said.

He noted the continued contribution to the wider group of the investment bank which Mr Diamond led before taking the top job.

It accounted for £1.3 billion of the £1.8bn of earnings Barclays reported for the first quarter of 2013.

Sir David also told the meeting at the Royal Festival Hall in London: "What Bob Diamond left behind is capable of improvement."

The bank yesterday set out its response to a review it commissioned from City lawyer Anthony Salz, which had criticised the lender's culture and high pay.

Among Barclays' pledges is that all its 140,000 employees will attend a "learning programme" by July "to better understand our values and behaviours".

Sir David said: "Changing Barclays' culture is critical if we are to rebuild trust."

Barclays has pledged to scale back pay and improve dividend payouts.

Nevertheless, outside the hall, demonstrators dressed as bankers bathed in a bath filled with money.

Inside the hall, Patrick Evershed, a former fund manager, told the meeting: "Twelve months ago the board looked completely dysfunctional."

Barclays has been "transformed" he said.

But he warned: "We must be careful not to overpay people otherwise we could be socially divisive."

Another shareholder, Joan Wollard, questioned the need to pay anyone a salary of more than £1m.

Barclays has been criticised for giving 428 employees £1m or more in 2012.

Another investor called for industry-wide action to bring down pay.

Shareholder Jennifer Cramer accused last year's meeting of being a "sham" because the then remuneration committee chairman Alison Carnwath justified to investors the proposed pay for Mr Diamond before revealing after resigning shortly afterwards that she had opposed the arrangement.

Sir David's explanation that Ms Carnwath had resigned due to the pressure of other commitments drew groans and a heckle of "pull the other one" from the packed hall.

Sir David insisted Barclays' approach to pay had "fundamentally changed," with greater emphasis on how profits were obtained.

He added: "It is without question that in Barclays, and more widely in the banking industry, pay became excessive."

Mr Jenkins added that the "dial has shifted" on pay. He aims to cut investment bank pay to around 35% of its income, but figures for the first quarter saw only a slight year-on-year fall from 43% to 41%.

Remuneration committee chairman Sir John Sunderland said: "It is in (shareholders') interests that we remain competitive on pay and we retain the best talent."

Most shareholders backed the new management team's approach to pay, with just 6.5% of investors opposing or withholding their support from the bank's remuneration report.

Mr Jenkins said reforming Barclays was a "five to 10-year journey".

l Ratings agency Fitch said Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland were likely to need an extension from the European Commission to conduct required branch sales, but could face additional measures in exchange.

Lloyds' sale of 632 branches, including Lloyds TSB Scotland, to Co-operative Bank collapsed this week, while a deal between RBS and Santander has also fallen through.