By MarketWatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- UK authorities are working with Bradford & Bingley PLC to consider the firm's future, as the beleaguered lender grapples with a loss of investor and ratings agencies' confidence, The Wall Street Journal reported...

LONDON (AFP)

British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, which has been hit by a housing downturn and weakness in the wider economy, may be nationalised, according to newspaper reports.

The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail both reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources, that government ministers were considering a nationalisation of the troubled bank, little more than a year after the collapse of Northern Rock, which was eventually nationalised earlier this year.

A spokesman for the bank told the Telegraph, however, that it was "fully funded and we are one of the strongest capitalised banks in the UK."

"As far as the febrile speculation goes, we do not comment on market rumours."

Bradford & Bingley announced on Thursday that it was cutting 370 jobs, mainly at its mortgage processing centre near London, in a bid to save 15 million pounds (18.9 million euros, 27.8 million dollars).

A newspaper report last weekend said that Britain's Financial Services Authority was in secret negotiations to facilitate the bank's acquisition.