Open-ended guarantee for Northern Rock depositors

At the request of Northern Rock, the UK Treasury has agreed to extend the guarantee arranged in mid-September for retail depositors to any new deposits savers make or have made since 19 September. The guarantee will remain in place "during the current instability in the financial markets," the Treasury said.

Northern Rock has had difficulty attracting new deposits and has had to go back to the Bank of England to borrow more money. Last week the amount it had borrowed rose to nearly £11 billi