FTSE plummets following China fears

A massive £36.2bn (€54bn) was wiped off the FTSE 100 Index today after the London market was hit by its biggest fall since May last year.

The Footsie has reached six-year highs in recent weeks but investors panicked on negative news from overseas and sent the index plunging to finish 148.6 points lower at 6286.1 – a drop of 2.3%.