OPPOSITION parties today put more pressure on Chancellor Alistair Darling over the Northern Rock crisis – as the company continues its search for a buyer.

The Bank of England has lent the beleaguered bank more than £24bn in emergency funding and Mr Darling pledged to give it breathing space to resolve its future.

He insists the support “was the right thing to do” – but the Tories and Liberal Democrats questioned whether the taxpayer would end up paying the bill.

The outcome depends on the content of bids submitted to the UK’s fifth biggest mortgage lender.

Shares in the Newcastle-based company plunged by more than 20% yesterday after it emerged current bids were “materially below” the firm’s stock market value.

In the Commons, Mr Darling pledged to retain guarantees over savers’ deposits and to protect taxpayers’ interests.

The Chancellor said that the Government would have a veto over any rescue plans for the mortgage lender..

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne branded the Government for “incompetence and weak leadership” over the issue, claiming that the rescue operation amounted to £900 for every UK taxpayer.

But Mr Darling said the consequences of letting Northern Rock fail “would have been immensely damaging” for the country’s financial institutions.

Liberal Democrat acting leader Vince Cable said hopes of a sale of the whole group were “a fantasy which is not going to happen”.

Northern Rock confirmed today that there was no interest so far in a bid for the entire company – with would-be buyers interested in parts of the business or investing in the group.

The Treasury warned that interested parties “should not assume” that the Bank of England’s emergency funding facility would be in place after February.