FTSE 100 index closes at its lowest level in seven months

UK stocks fall to lowest point since January following anxieties over China's economic slowdown, with mining and oil shares hit hardest

The FTSE 100 index has slipped to its lowest level since January as global investors reacted to concerns that a slowdown in China will undermine demand for oil and industrial metals in the world's second largest economy.

Weak data from the US helped drive fears that global growth is slowing and commodity prices have much further to fall, hitting mining and oil stocks in London as well as shares across Europe.