Rush for Bank of England funding

Banks have scrambled for extra funding at this week's regular cash auction by the Bank of England.

Commercial banks asked for £89.2bn ($165.5bn) in the auction - far more than the £52.8bn that was available.

Strains in the money markets have risen rapidly following the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers.

Banks are turning to the Bank of England for loans because it is currently too expensive to borrow from other banks as they would usually do.

Market stress

The central bank made an extra £5bn available at this week's auction because of the shortage of funds in commercial markets, but analysts said there was clearly appetite for more.