LONDON'S leading shares crash to a near four-year low today after last night's rejection of the 700 billion US dollar (£388bn) bank bail-out.

LONDON'S leading shares crash to a near four-year low today after last night's rejection of the 700 billion US dollar (£388bn) bank bail-out.

London's FTSE 100 Index slumped 2.3 per cent to 4705.5 - its lowest point since December 2004 - in the wake of the US House of Representatives' shock decision.

Last night the US's Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged almost 7pc. There were also heavy falls in Asian stock markets.