Northern Rock and its regulators are this week expected to try again to sell the mortgage lender after it was bailed out by the Bank of England.

As depositors continued to withdraw savings over the weekend, people familiar with the matter said the bank and its advisers were planning a new push to find a "commercial solution" that would allow it to be sold as a going concern.

Northern Rock held talks with Lloyds TSB, Britain's fifth-largest bank, as recently as last Monday. But discussions were said to have been undermined by turmoil in the credit markets and the Bank of England's reluctance to offer financial support to facilitate a deal.

The bank has about 25,000 clients in Ireland, some of whom have withdrawn an unspecified amount of money since the bank's troubles were made public on Friday. A spokesman for the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority said that some 300 people phoned its helpline on Saturday. The helpline, 1890-777777, is open today.

Any renewed takeover interest is likely to depend on whether Northern Rock's business can be stabilised. About £2 billion (€2.89 billion) has now been withdrawn from branches and online savings accounts. But people close to the bank say the figure - about 8 per cent of total deposits - is lower than had been feared.

Both Callum McCarthy, chairman of Britain's Financial Services Authority, and Alistair Darling, the UK chancellor, stressed over the weekend that the bank was solvent.

If no buyers come forward, it seems likely that Northern Rock's business will be gradually wound down, leaving it with a mortgage book that will shrink as loans are repaid.

Its advisers are thought to have calculated that, in this situation, the bank would be worth about 180p a share.

Northern Rock shares closed at 438p on Friday.

It remains unclear whether the Bank of England would be willing to provide some ongoing support to help smooth a deal. But it is clear that the bank will provide borrowing facilities only on penal terms.

The Bank of England has been stung by criticism that it is providing a bail-out to Northern Rock and wants the terms of that deal to be published so it can demonstrate how tough they are for Northern Rock's shareholders.

"We expect the terms to be disclosed in due course," it said.

- (Financial Times service)