UK may urge lending to small businesses

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor Alistair Darling and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson will meet chief executives of Britain's leading banks on Wednesday to urge them to increase small business lending, The Times reported on Wednesday.

The two politicians will ask bank chiefs to raise lending to last year's levels of 53 billion pounds, the paper said.

The move comes as fears grow in the UK for thousands of jobs.

(Reporting by Ben Deighton, Editing by Tomasz Janowski)