Darling defends Rock crisis role

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The lender has borrowed an estimated £24 billion in emergency funding from the Bank of England so far but Mr Darling insisted the support "was the right thing to do".

The Chancellor's defence came as the Newcastle-based lender revealed it had received rescue plans from would-be suitors which were "materially below" the value of the company. This sent its shares plummeting by more than 20%.

Mr Darling said the Bank of England bail-out had given Northern Rock a chance to "consider its strategic options", but came under attack from shadow Chancellor George Osborne.

Mr Osborne said: "This is a tale of incompetence and weak leadership from a Government that reels from one disaster to another."

The Chancellor said that Government would have a veto over any rescue plans for the mortgage lender, which was at the centre of the UK's first bank run for nearly 150 years in September.