THE Government is to press ahead with the sale of the publicly-owned bank Northern Rock despite a top-level investigation and calls for a delay.

Treasury sources have told The Journal that a probe by the National Audit Office (NAO) into the sell-off “was no surprise and completely understandable.”

The sale of the bank to Virgin Money is still expected to happen on January 1, despite concerns from Labour MPs and former shareholders who wanted a delay.

Since the troubled bank was taken into public ownership, thousands of workers have faced widespread redundancies and months of uncertainty.

But a spokesman for Northern Rock said: “The sale is going through and people here are happy and excited about Virgin Money taking over next year.” Last night the Unite union, which represents many of the workers at the Rock, said the NAO investigation needed to protect the future of staff.

National officer David Fleming said: “The workforce have suffered years of turmoil and change since the near collapse of the Northern Rock bank. Any investigation must keep the future of the 2,500 hardworking staff at the top of its agenda and ensure that there is no further harm done to this key employer in the North East.”

Newcastle Central Labour MP Chi Onwurah plans to write to the NAO asking investigators to address key questions.

She said: “It is right that the NAO should look at the sale, the amount paid and whether all options including mutualisation were properly investigated.”

There was a similar response from the Northern Rock Small Shareholders Group, whose spokesman Robin Ashby said: “I am disappointed. Why can’t the sale be delayed for a short time to allow the Audit Office to complete its investigation.

“If there was a critical report, political damage could have been avoided by a short delay.”

When the sale of the bank was first was announced, Chancellor George Osborne said it represented good value for money.

But Labour’s shadow financial secretary Chris Leslie wrote to the NAO calling for an investigation.