Banco Santander's UK business remains a core part of the Spanish lender's globally diversified business model and the division is not for sale, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

Talks last year came as the British high street lender takes a robust approach to growth ahead of government exit

Sub 4% mortgages are returning to the market, with Santander UK launching new deals later this week. The bank said that from Thursday, borrowers will be able to apply for one of four new products as it launches a range of two and five-year fixed-rate deals at 3.

The prospect of further cuts in the base rate by the Bank of England has given mortgage providers confidence to reduce their own rates. But the attention-grabbing sub-4% deals by Santander and Barclays will not be available to all borrowers,

Santander is also making reductions of up to 0.40 percent on more than 80 other mortgages products from Thursday. The new deals include a 60 percent LTV (loan-to-value) two or fiv