London shares driven to six-year lows

Leading shares plunged to six-year lows today, as early selling accelerated throughout the afternoon, driven by further heavy losses across the financial sector and pushed lower still by an early tumble by Wall Street.

At the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 185.4 points at 3,721.8, recovering in late trade from its session low of 3,669.7.