Britain's Tesco to stop mortgage lending at bank unit

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest supermarket chain Tesco plc said its banking unit will stop mortgage lending, amid cut-throat competition and tough market conditions that have pressured profits for lenders across the sector.

Tesco Bank, which serves more than 23,000 mortgage customers with total balances of 3.7 billion pounds ($4.71 billion), said it will stop new lending and seek to sell its existing portfolio of home loans. ($1 = 0.7860 pounds) (Reporting by Lawrence White, editing by Louise Heavens)