LONDON, Sept 12 | Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:55am EDT

LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Falling shares prices have delayed the British government's planned sale of its stakes in the banks it bailed out during the financial crisis, finance minister George Osborne said on Monday.

Britain spent over a trillion pounds to shore up its banking sector and buy stakes in or nationalise lenders such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds in the fallout from the financial crisis.

"The return of the banks to the private sector is something that of course we all want to see," Osborne told parliament.

"If truth be told, the big fall in the share prices of these banks and other banks, American and European and around the world in recent months, has pushed that timetable back a little bit further."

Answering questions in parliament, Osborne said the cost of implementing bank regulation reforms, outlined in a report by the Independent Commission on Banking , would be outweighed by the benefits they bring to the economy. (Reporting By Peter Griffiths)