Bids totalled 3.62 times the volume of gilts on offer, the highest since the auction of 2 billion pounds of the 4.75% 2030 gilt in April 2020, when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic boosted demand for safe assets.

The 2043 gilt sold at an average yield of 4.391%

($1 = 0.7858 pounds)

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by William Schomberg)