LONDON (Reuters) - Any buyer of British bank Northern Rock would inherit the emergency lending facility it currently has from the Bank of England for the rest of the funding line's term, a spokesman for the central bank said yesterday.

He was responding to media reports that said the Bank of England would remove the emergency facility more or less the moment Northern Rock, Britain's fifth-biggest mortgage lender, was taken over by a bigger bank.

The BoE put in place an emergency lifeline for Northern Rock last Friday as the lender has been strapped for cash following the credit crunch in global financial markets.