Britain's part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group on Wednesday said a deal agreed last year to sell 632 branches at a loss to The Co-operative Group had collapsed, adding that it would now float the so-called Project Verde division on the stock market.

British police knew of claims that journalists at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World hacked into a murdered schoolgirl's mobile phone but they failed to investigate, the police watchdog said on Wednesday. Britain's Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said Surrey Police in southeast England had done nothing about the allegations during their probe into the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler in 2002. But the IPCC said it was unable to find out why nothing was done, because former senior officers at the force appeared to be suffering from "collective amnesia".

By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Executives from Britain's BAE Systems <BAES.L> and dozens of companies that build parts for BAE's Bradley Fighting Vehicle rallied in Washington this week to lobby for U.S. Army orders they say are needed to keep the Bradley production line open. The companies argue that the Army's plan to temporarily shut down the production line in York, Pennsylvania could cost nearly as much -- or more -- than maintaining the line by upgrading older Bradley vehicles to a newer configuration.

LONDON (Reuters) - J Sainsbury delivered the strongest growth among Britain's so-called Big Four grocers in the 12 weeks to April 14 and was the only one to increase market share, monthly industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said sales at Sainsbury, Britain's third-largest grocer, grew 5.4 percent in the period, increasing its market share to 16.9 percent.