Billions of pounds were wiped off of London’s blue chip index today as global stock markets slumped amid renewed concerns over the Eurozone.

The FTSE 100 tanked 3.43 per cent to 5,393 by 1630 hours, territory not been witnessed since September 2010.

It came as the European Central Bank announced a new round of loans for banks in a bid to settle nerves about the state of the Eurozone economy.

The maturity date of the loans was confirmed as 1 March 2012, but investors failed to take comfort from the new arrangements and London’s FTSE 100 went into freefall.

Marine satellites specialist Inmarsat was the worst hit, as the company saw 22.8 per cent of its value wiped out through the day, having confirmed it had lost all hope of growth in 2011 in its maritime business.

It settled at 377.4 pence by 1615 hours, while Vedanta Resources lost nearly 11 per cent of its value, at 1,467 pence.

After announcing it had returned to a half-year loss, following the additional provision for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance, Lloyds Banking Group dropped 10 per cent to 35.1 pence.

Xstrata also sunk considerably, down 8.7 per cent at 1,083 pence while Eurasian Natural Resources lost 8.5 per cent at 659 pence.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes today slashed the odds of bailout of another Eurozone country within the coming months.

Alex Donohue, spokesman for Ladbrokes said the odds of a bailout next year are plummeting quicker than the European markets.

He added, ‘The jitters are music to punters' ears as they pile on and pray for further trouble.’

Spain’s odds of a bailout were slashed to 7/5, while Italy’s chances were ranked at 13/8. Belgium was third on the list at 11/2, followed by Slovakia (9/1) and Estonia (10/1).

The odds that any European country will now receive a bailout before the end of 2011 have been shortened to 4/1.