Bank of England sounds out buyers for Metro Bank including NatWest

JP Morgan also approached as Metro reportedly tries to thrash out rescue package with investors

The Bank of England's regulatory arm is understood to have approached a number of big lenders in the past few days, including NatWest and JP Morgan Chase, to see if they had any interest in the embattled high street rival Metro Bank.

JP Morgan Chase examined a potential bid to take over the whole of Metro after speaking to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) but decided on Saturday night not to go ahead with it, a source said.