The Bank of England will on Friday provide emergency funding to rescue Northern Rock, a leading UK mortgage lender that has fallen victim to the credit squeeze triggered by the US subprime meltdown.

VIDEO: UK Daily View

Chris Hughes explains how the UK mortgage lender has suffered from the credit squeeze

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Northern Rock, which had more than $200bn in assets at the end of June, is the first UK financial institution to be propped up since the Bank of England in 1998 revised the rules under which it would act as a lender of last resort to banks. The BoE is on Friday expected to say that a similar facility is available to any other institution facing short-term difficulties.