The top five shareholders in Northern Rock saw £131.6m (€190m) wiped off the value of their stakes today after shares plunged 24.8% on news that the UK lender asked the Bank of England to throw it a financial lifeline amid spreading contagion of the US sub-prime crisis.

Investor fears over the future of the bank, which has become the latest casualty of credit crunch brought on by the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgage market that started in the spring, saw shares fall 158.5p to 485.5p by lunchtime today.